
PRESENTED BY 



RAMBLING NOTES 



OF A 



RAMBLING TOUR 



THROUGH 



EGYPT, PALESTINE AND EUROPE 



^ 



By C C. ROYCE 



1^ 






I 






T 



'HE AUTHOR has only three excuses for the seeming ego- 
tism of this publication. 

^ 1 . That reference to its pages serves to recall and to 
fix more definitely in his mind many of the pleasurable, 
not to say wonderful sights and incidents of the trip. 

^ 2. That sundry friends have expressed a desire to 
peruse its pages, and 

^ 3. That it is printed exclusively for private circulation 
among such friends. 

(3) 



RAMBLING NOTES OF 
A RAMBLING TOUR 
THROUGH EGYPT, PAL- 
ESTINE AND EUROPE 

BY C. C. ROYCE 



Chico, California, January 22, 1912. 

A journey long contemplated is about to be under- 
taken. For years it has been the hope and the expec- 
tation that a trip abroad to the land of the lotus and 
the sacred crocodile; to the home of the Pharaohs 
and the scene of the captivity and final emancipation 
of Israel would be vouchsafed to us. That our eyes 
might look upon the land flowing with milk and 
honey; the land which Moses of old was only per- 
mitted to view from Nebo's lonely heights; the land 
where Jericho's massive walls v/ere leveled with the 
blasts from the ram's horns of Joshua's mighty hosts; 
the land where Jesus of Nazareth spake as never man 
spake ; where the miracle of the loaves and fishes was 
enacted among the lowly fishermen of Galilee; where 
the crucifixion and resurrection of the Saviour of 
mankind occurred, and where more than a thousand 
years later the faith and the fanaticism of the crusad- 
ing millions of Europe left their bleaching bones in the 
futile effort to reclaim the holy city of Jerusalem from 
the accursed domination of the Moslem. 

Long and earnest had been our desire to sail the 
waters of the blue Mediterranean where the opposing 

(5) 



6 

fleets of ancient Rome and Carthage fought the fight 
of barbarous lust and conquest ; where the virile sons 
of Greece annihilated the mighty Persian fleet of 
Xerxes, and where, in the later centuries, the pirates of 
the southern coast were brought to a realizing sense 
that a new but potential power had arisen in the 
Occident when our Decatur and his little squadron 
taught them the wisdom of good behavior. So, too, 
our hopes had been pinned to a desire to wander 
amidst the ruins of classic Greece, that were reminisc- 
ent of the eloquence of Demosthenes, of the wisdom 
of Solon, of the philosophy of Plato and of the mili- 
tary valor of Miltiades ; to beard the lustful Turk in 
the midst of the multiplied mosques and minarets 
of his Mohammedan might on the picturesque banks 
of the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn, and to wander 
beneath the cloudless skies and among the sun-kissed, 
vine-clad hills of historic Italy, whose magnificent and 
awe-inspiring ruins speak of the age when the far- 
reaching conquests of Csesar and Pompey and Antony 
had made Rome the mistress of the civilized world. 

And so it has come about that our hopes and expec- 
tations are about to be realized — our itinerary has 
been scheduled — our tickets have been purchased — 
our sailing day fixed and this is our last day in Chico. 
It is the closing of twenty-three years of continuous 
service as Manager of Rancho Chico. 

Locally it marks the end of an era, the passing of 
Rancho Chico after an existence under Mexican and 
American jurisdiction of sixty-seven years, and 
throughout most of this period the widest known, the 
most picturesque and the most diversified in its 
product of any ranch in California. Its history has 
been filled with varying triumphs and vicissitudes. 



Agriculturally and horticulturally it has triumphed 
in its exhibits at county, state, national and inter- 
national expositions. Its owner has been in years 
past the generous and genial host to many famous 
men and women, including Presidents of the United 
States, generals of the army, senators and repre- 
sentatives in Congress, noted scientists and scholars. 
On the other hand the latter years of his life were 
deeply troubled by large financial obligations which 
unfortunately were not canceled until after his death. 
I leave Chico with mixed feelings of relief and 
regret; relief at the lifting of responsibility from my 
shoulders, and regret at breaking the many ties of 
affection that cluster in a reminiscent way around 
the ranch, its orchards, its fields, its woods and its 
natural scenery, as well as the association with its 
many old and faithful employes. 

January 23. — Left Chico at 6.48 a. m. for Sac- 
ramento, arriving there at 10 a. m. and leaving on the 
Overland Limited for Chicago at 2 p. m. Gen. N. P. 
Chipman, a friend of forty-five years' standing, came 
to the train to bid us God-speed. The weather is 
fine and warm in the valley, but as we ascend the 
Sierras the first snow is encountered at Dutch Flat, 
and from there on snow is omnipresent. This is my 
first day without an occupation since leaving home as 
a boy fifty years ago, and I seem unable to realize its 
full significance. It probably means that my life's 
work from a business standpoint is over. I am a 
"has been," a back number, one in whom the busy 
world finds no further interest — one whose years have 
become a handicap and whose destiny is to float for a 
little while as a piece of water-logged flotsam, down 



8 

the stream of life to where it empties into the gulf of 
obhvion. 

January 2Ji.. — All day we are passing through a 
snow-bound, sage-brush desert, except in a few fa- 
vored spots, where the system of irrigation has worked 
a miracle in the vegetable world. Left Odgen about 
noon, and as the shades of night are falling we are 
skimming the plains of Wyoming. 

January 25. — Passed Cheyenne at 5.30 a. m. and 
rolled into North Platte at 1 p. m. The weather has 
moderated, the sun shining brightly and the snow 
rapidly melting. After crossing the continent so 
many times by this route the scenic outlook is with- 
out flavor, the dead grass and leafless trees — where 
there are any — are distastefully monotonous and the 
trip is stupid and tiresome. Generations yet unborn 
will probably see this vast area of desert and unoc- 
cupied land conquered by the plow and teeming with 
an industrious population, but it strains the imagin- 
ation to foresee it. And yet within my own experi- 
ence and observation the farms have multiplied, 
towns have sprung up like mushrooms and the agri- 
cultural limit has extended hundreds of miles to the 
westward and back from the railroad on both sides in 
a marvelous degree. Arrived at Omaha at 7.30 p. m. 

January 26. — Arrived at Chicago in the midst of a 
heavy snowstorm at 8.30 a. m., secured sleeper tickets 
and left for Washington at 10.30 a. m. Found on 
board Mr. James M. Chadsey, whom I had known as 
a government clerk in Washington more than forty 
years ago and whom I had not seen for more than 



9 

thirty years. His hair, which was coal black when 
last I saw him, was now white with the frost of his 
seventy-four years. Passed through Fort Wayne, 
Lima, Crestline, Alliance, Mansfield, Canton, Mas- 
silon and numerous smaller towns, all showing growth 
and prosperity under the beneficent influence of a 
protective tariff, which the so-called progressives, 
acting as assistants to the democratic party in Con- 
gress, are endeavoring to destroy. With the com- 
bined efforts of Roosevelt, LaFollette, Cummins and 
their followers, the prospects for a democratic free- 
trade President are daily improving. 

From the car window a view of the passing land- 
scape gives evidence that the m^elancholj^ daj^s of the 
year are now regnant over hill and vale, over country 
and city. Over hill and vale, whose bronzed glories 
of autumn have passed away; over country and city 
where again there is felt the chilling presence of the 
frost king. Over hills and over vales, every vestige, 
every reminder of heated summer and mellow autumn 
have wholly vanished; beautiful flowers, verdant 
meadows and wealth of foHage have entirely dis- 
appeared. Here and there upon the hillsides the 
trees stand desolate and denuded. Throughout 
the boughs and branches, like invisible fingers playing 
upon many irregular strings of natural harps, there 
passes and repasses the cold breath of winter's wind 
wailing in a sort of musical monotone. Near by 
there still bubbles the sparkling brook ever in motion 
coming down from the wooded hills above, flowing 
silently across some rocky pasture and finally burying 
itself as silently amid the other waters of a winding 
river. From cottage chimneys there rises a hos- 
pitable smoke, and reflected upon the window-pane 



10 

there flickers the cheery fire on the open hearth. The 
first half of winter with its snow and ice are here and 
surely the melancholy days are now regnant over 
hill and vale, over country and city. 

January 27. — Arrived in Washington at 8.30 a. m. 
The magnificent new Union Depot (probably the 
finest structure of its kind in the United States, with 
the possible exception of the new Pennsylvania sta- 
tion in New York) contrasts indescribably with the 
old, dirty and altogether disreputable station of the 
Baltimore and Ohio R. R. at which I landed on my 
first advent in Washington, in November, 1862. 
How well I remember that day when, as a boy of less 
than seventeen years, I reached here to take a clerk- 
ship in the Treasury Department and was assigned 
to duty in the office of the great War Secretary of the 
Treasury, Salmon P. Chase. It was in the midst 
of the great Civil War and Washington streets were 
filled with the steady tramp of arriving soldiers and 
the hotels were thronged with the brass buttons and 
gilded epaulettes of army officers, many of whom were 
destined to attain high rank or fall gloriously upon 
the field of battle ere the close of the war. The 
Capitol building was then unfinished, as was likewise 
the Treasury, and the great State, War and Navy 
Department building was not yet begun. Washing- 
ton, from a scattering, ill-built, unpaved and unpre- 
possessing southern town of those days, has gone 
through an evolution that entitles it to the claims 
of being one of the most beautiful, fascinating and 
desirable of modern residence cities. To-day and 
the succeeding days to and including January 31, 
were spent in visiting old friends, making the neces- 



11 

sary purchases and preparations for the ocean voy- 
age and sight-seeing about the city. 

February 1. — Left Washington at 10 a. m. for New 
York. Stopped over one train in Philadelphia to 
meet by appointment and lunch with our old friends, 
General and Mrs. R. B. Beath. Leaving Phila- 
delphia we reached New York about five o'clock and 
went to the Breslin Hotel. The evening was passed 
in enjoying the theatrical presentation of Kismet by 
Otis Skinner. 

February 2. — Mr. H. W. Dunning, the leader of our 
excursion party, arrived from Boston early in the 
evening, gave us some preliminary information about 
the trip and introduced us to several of our fellow 
excursionists. An old friend, Prof. Frank Stewart, 
called to spend the evening. He has had a highly 
successful career as a musical professor and director. 
When I first knew him, about fifty-four years ago, he 
was a small boy and his father was keeping a country 
hotel at Troy, Ohio. 

February 3. — Left the Breslin Hotel at 10 o'clock, 
a. m. and went aboard the steamship Laconia. 
The weather is very cold — thermometer down to zero 
point at 8 o'clock. Mrs. Guy Kennedy, W. M. 
Alexander and wife and Margaret Stewart, old Cali- 
fornia and Washington friends, came down to see us 
off. They brought a farewell message and some 
beautiful roses from Mrs. Bidwell. The steamer 
sailed at noon with a large passenger list and with the 
sea as smooth as a skating pond. The list of our 
fellow-passengers booked for the same trip with our- 



12 

selves is made up of the following: Rev. A. E. Cross, 
Dr. W. H. Cobb and Miss A. L. Frost, of Boston; 
Mrs. Ella Hubbard of Azusa, Calif. ; Mrs. W. H. Petit, 
Belvidere, 111.; W. F. Sandrock, Milwaukee, Wis.; 
Capt. W. W. Woodruff, Knoxville, Tenn.; Mrs. 
Henrietta B. Alexander, Macon, Ga.; Miss Edith 
Gammans, Newton Centre, Mass.; Mrs. Laura 
Gammans and Gordon Gammans, Portland, Ore.; 
Mrs. J. Q. Adams, Omaha, Neb. ; Miss Mabel E. Cole, 
Portland, Ore.; Mrs. J. H. Ives., Chicago, 111.; Mrs. 
W. S. Blaisdell, Buffalo, N. Y. ; Miss Annie P. Walker, 
Wynecote, Penn. ; Miss Lilian Jones, Conshohocken, 
Penn. ; and Mr. and Mrs. F. T. Pember, Granville, 
N. Y. We have a delightful outside room and are 
seated at table with Mr. and Mrs. Pember, Mrs. 
Alexander and the ship's surgeon. 

"We've left behind the painted buoy, 
"That tosses at the harbor mouth; 
"And madly danced our hearts with joy 
"As fast we fleeted to the south. 
"The broad seas swept to meet the keel 
"And swept behind, so quick the run, 
" We felt the good ship shake and reel — 
"We seemed to sail into the sun." 

February 4- — All day long we have been moving 
steadily on, assaulting the winds and waves until, as 
night comes on, the spray is dashing high up on the 
vessel, but she rides the storm like a bird. 

Mai de mer has not taken any strangle-hold on us 
yet, though the craving for dinner was not sufficiently 
strong to draw us up one flight of stairs to the dining 
room. I am testing the efficacy of Mothersill's sea- 
sick remedy and so far faith, together with a quiet 
recumbent posture, seems to hold for me a winning 
hand. Episcopal service was carried on in the recep- 



13 

tion room this morning, but personal comfort out- 
weighed any desire to attend. Everything about 
the ship is new and clean and the attendants, who are 
all English, are extremely polite, kind and attentive. 
I have to-day several times doubted the wisdom of 
two people of our years undertaking such a trip with 
its rapid and repeated changes of climate, its untried 
and mysterious changes of diet and its severe physical 
strain in riding through desert sands, climbing rugged 
mountains and sleeping in strange, uncomfortable 
beds. But the microbe of wanderlust has infected us 
and we must take our chances. 

February 5. — The storm of last night increased in 
violence as the hours went by — the wind blowing at 
fifty miles an hour, but we went to bed and were 
sound asleep, not knowing until breakfast time that 
at about 1 a. m. the vessel turned over on her side and 
for a time it was doubtful if she could regain her 
equilibrium. This indifference to the situation 
reminds me of the old poem entitled: "The Sailor's 
Consolation," in which it is recited that, 

"One night came on a hurricane; 
"The sea was mountains roUing, 
"When Barney BuntUng turned his quid, 
"And said to Billy Bowling: 
"A strong nor'wester's, blowing Bill, 
"Hark! don't ye hear it roar, now. 
"Lord help 'em, how I pities them 
"Unhappy folks on shore, now; 
"Foolhardy chaps who lives in towns, 
"What danger they are all in; 
"And now he quaking in their beds, 
"For fear the roof shah fall in; 
"Poor creatures — how they envies us, 
"And wishes, I've a notion, 
"For our good luck, in such a storm, 
"To be upon the ocean." 



14 

This change of cHmate and the salt sea air have a 
tendency to develop drowsiness, and no difficulty is 
experienced in "dreaming, sweetly dreaming the 
happy hom's away." The weather has moderated 
greatly since we left New York and the day has been 
given alternately to showers and sunshine. A heavy 
hailstorm occurred about 1 p. m. but lasted only 
a few moments. The white-caps are chasing each 
other like a band of wild horses, overtaking and 
trampling each other with an exciting fierceness that 
is both beautiful and awe-inspiring. 

February 6. — Awoke this morning with the sun 
shining brilliantly, and far as the eye could reach the 
crest of the billows was polished silver, dazzling the 
eyes beyond endurance. After breakfast we occupied 
our steamer chairs on deck and were greeted with 
mixed showers and sunshine with a strong N. W. 
wind. 

Made the acquaintance of Mr. Woodruff, of Knox- 
ville, Tenn., who is a member of our party; a loyal 
Kentuckian by birth, who served four years in the 
Union army. He is seventy-three years old — is 
making this trip for the second time, and is a most 
intelligent, kind-hearted and companionable man. 
I anticipate much pleasure in his society and frank 
companionship during the trip. 

There is a beautiful ladies' cabin or sitting-room on 
the ship, where, after dinner, the ladies in full dress, 
with their male escorts, resort for a game of bridge 
whist. In the rear of this is a gentleman's smoking 
and card-room with the bar adjoining. As yet I have 
seen no gambling, which is more or less of a surprise 
to me, as it is a contradiction of all the stories I have 



15 

heard of these ocean steamers. Notwithstanding a 
large surplus of sleep and an appetite measuring up 
to four full meals a day, I am steadily losing flesh. 
We are now about twelve hundred miles from New 
York and are making an average of sixteen knots an 
hour. 

February 7. — To-day has been a duplicate of yes- 
terday so far as the weather is concerned. A life on 
the ocean wave is becoming very monotonous. 
Gazing on the brilliant and ever-changing billows is a 
breeder of headache. We are making from 375 to 
400 miles each twenty-four hours and expect to reach 
Madeira Saturday evening. The saloon after dinner is 
filled with handsome and handsomely dressed women 
playing bridge, many of them for money. In the 
smoking-room an auctioneer was selling pools on the 
number of miles the vessel will make in the next 
twenty-four hours. 

It is beginning to be a question in my mind whether 
people over sixty years of age are not more comfort- 
able and happy in their own homes and among their 
old friends than trekking it around the world, living 
for months within the lids of a steamer trunk and a 
suit case. But perhaps when we are brought in con- 
tact with new scenes and strange peoples we shall 
feel compensated for any slight discomforts and 
inconveniences that may have attended our getting 
there. 

February 8. — A dreary sunless day with almost 
continuous showers ; a head wind but not a heavy sea. 
About midday we passed the longitude of the Azore 
Islands, being some two hundred miles to the south 



16 

of them. After a two hours nap in the afternoon I 
awoke with a clear brain and a vanished headache 
for the first time since leaving New York. We are 
told we shall reach Madeira Saturday evening, but 
that if the weather is stormy we shall not land. At 
11 p. m. the saloon is still full of demented women 
playing bridge whist. Very little card playing 
among the men. At midnight I strolled out upon 
deck, w^here I found a few couples facing the ship's 
promenade, blissfully indifferent to the lateness of the 
hour, but keenly alive to the sentimental joyousness 
of the locality and the opportunity. The sky had 
cleared and the wind had lulled to a gentle zephyr. 

"The fleeting hours like birds flew by, 

"As Hghtly and as free. 

"Ten thousand stars were in the sky, 

"Ten thousand on the sea. 

"For every wave with dimpled face, 

"That leaped upon the air, 

"Had caught a star in its embrace, 

"And held it trembling there. 

February 9. — Sun shining brightly and a warm 
spring-like atmosphere. Everybody on deck looking 
happy and cheerful. This is the first day the steerage 
passengers have had opportunity to come out on deck 
because of the previous cold and rainy weather, and 
they are making the most of their opportunity. They 
are mostly Italians returning to their native land, 
chiefly laborers, with a few disconsolate looking women 
and now and then a brood of dirty children. The 
atmosphere surrounding them is laden with obnoxi- 
ous odors, but their happiness does not seem to be in 
any degree minimized thereby. 

I have been thinking all day with what greater zest 
and more eager expectation I should have experienced 



17 

the opportunity for this trip twenty-five years ago, 
before the edge of curiosity had been dulled, and the 
fountains of anticipation dried up. But as the old man 
said about the circus : ''When I was a boy and yearned 
to go to the circus, I didn't have the fifty cents; now I 
have the fifty cents but I haven't the yearn." Passed 
the steamer Coronia of the Cunard line at 2.30 p. m. 
on her way to New York, about five miles distant. 
During the afternoon the Italian steerage passengers 
danced on the lower deck to the music of an accordion 
and with the stimulus of sundry small coins from the 
first cabin passengers. 

February 10. — Last night a charity concert was 
given, followed by a ball. Every one was decked out 
in his or her best togs, and seldom have I seen finer 
costumes at on-shore functions. Went to bed at mid- 
night and awakened about 2 a. m. with an acute 
attack of lumbago, necessitating a call for the ship's 
doctor. About 10 a. m. came in sight of the Madeira 
Islands. Was unable to go on deck, but propped my- 
self up and looked through the port hole. As we 
came nearer the bold shore and more lofty hill-sides, 
numerous trickling streams and silvery cascades dot- 
ted the landscape, winding in and out among the beau- 
tiful green trees and grass covered slopes. About 
4 p. m. we steamed into the harbor of Funchal, pre- 
pared to anchor, and were met with a fleet of small 
boats, each containing a man or two at the oars and a 
half-naked native who with tense and eager counten- 
ance, violent gestures and vociferous cries demanded 
the throwing of silver coins into the water that he 
might forthwith dive from the boat and catch the 
same ere they could sink to the bottom. The skill 
1677—2 



18 

and dexterity manifested in this is quite remarkable. 
Funchal appears to be an aggregation of one and two- 
story houses scattered along the crescent-like beach 
and extending quite far up the steep hillsides and 
mostly of a white or yellowish color. This is a Por- 
tuguese colony. Late in the afternoon a large pro- 
portion of the passengers went ashore and many of 
them stayed all night. A half dozen or more steam 
vessels were in the harbor when we arrived, but no 
sign of an American flag at any of their mastheads. 
When will our so-called statesmen become broad- 
minded and patriotic enough to encourage the up- 
building of an American merchant marine? 

February 11. — The day opened bright, balmy and 
with radiant sunshine. The wind died down to a 
soft, soothing breeze and the bay became as smooth 
and placid as a millpond. At 9 a. m. all of our party, 
except myself, went ashore, while I was compelled to 
divide my attention between the excruciating pains 
of lumbago and anathemas upon my ill-luck in being 
deprived of this first chance for landing on a foreign 
shore. However, about 4 p. m., I awoke from a pro- 
longed sleep feeling much better. I dressed, went on 
deck and got shaved just as Mrs. R. returned from 
shore. We immediately jumped into the launch and 
returned to the island. At the wharf we hired a bull- 
sled and rode to the depot. These bull-sleds are 
curious affairs ; a little boy goes ahead of the animals 
on the trot and they follow him implicitly, urged on 
by a man with a stout pole and the sled glides over 
the street paved with small, smooth, rounded stones, as 
glibly almost as if it were a bed of snow. Arrived at 
the depot we took the cog railway for the top of the 



19 

mountain. The rise in two or three miles is probably 
twelve to fifteen hundred feet and the ground is a 
continuous succession of terraces. Interesting culti- 
vation is shown on every hand. The farms or 
gardens, or whatever they may be called, range in size 
from that of a good liberal dining-room to several 
acres in extent and are almost invariably divided by a 
narrow pathway, paved and bordered on each side by 
a stone wall. So rank is the vegetation that it over- 
tops and overhangs these walls, almost entirely hiding 
the pathway, except at its point of entrance from the 
main road. Within these gardens the main product 
is sugar-cane, so thick in its growth that by compari- 
son the buck-brush of the Sierra Nevada mountains 
might be called scattering. In some places, where 
the cane is not permitted to monoplize every inch of 
space, there are a few grape vines trained upon trel- 
lises ; when the crop of grapes is mature and gathered, 
the leaves are all clipped off and cabbages and other 
vegetables are grown in the soil underneath the arbor. 
The houses are very quaint and curious in their con- 
struction, with tiled roofs, barred and grated windows 
and tightly closed doors, giving more the appearance 
of jails than residences. Coming back from the 
mountain we again took a bull-sled and went to the 
Casino, which is beautifully located on a bluff over- 
looking the ocean and surrounded by grounds filled 
with beautiful trees, shrubbery and flowering plants, 
the trunks, limbs and branches of which were literally 
filled with bulbs for illumination. Our visit was at 
7.30 p. m., but as the dance and illumination did not 
take place until 9 o'clock we were not fortunate in 
seeing the full glory of the place. There are more 
children and more beggars to the square foot here 



20 

than I ever dreamed of. On every hand, not only in 
the stores, but on the streets, native merchants 
importune one to buy their embroideries of hnen and 
cotton. Every one of whom you ask any information 
expects and almost demands compensation. The 
streets are crooked and narrow; sidewalks, where any 
exist, are about four feet wide and the streets vary 
from ten to twenty feet. Here and there on the hill 
is a beautiful villa, generally two stories with perhaps 
ten to twenty rooms, surrounded by spacious 
grounds, filled with trees, shrubs and vines and from 
which emerged properous looking, well dressed people, 
evidently the aristocracy of the community. A fine 
German hospital for tuberculosis patients stands on 
a prominent site on the hillside overlooking the entire 
harbor, and a new hotel is being built high up on the 
mountain side, to which the cog railway will soon be 
finished. While the islands belong to the Portuguese, 
the chief business interests are controlled by English 
residents, including the shipping, the banking and 
the wine trade, and by reason of this commercial dom- 
ination there is no good feeling between the English 
and Portuguese inhabitants. The gardens and garden 
walls are bright with luxuriant and many colored 
flowers. Geraniums are indigenous, and when grow- 
ing along side walls or other support assume the char- 
acter of climbing plants and grow to the height often 
of twelve feet, with flowers much larger than with us. 

February 12. — At 1 a. m. the ship weighed anchor 
and steamed for Gibraltar. Many of the passengers 
were so late coming aboard that it was 2 a. m. before 
quiet reigned about the ship. A strong head wind 
set in which continued to increase in violence as the 



21 

day grew older and the motion of the ship became 
more pronounced than at any time so far on the 
voyage. Nothing of importance occurred on ship 
board during the day. The evening was spent by 
most of the passengers in the usual games of bridge 
and poker. 

February 18. — Awoke at 8 a. m. with the bright 
sunshine streaming in at the port-hole. Went on 
deck after breakfast to find that the wind had sub- 
sided and the air was as balmy as April in California. 
Everybody was on deck and on the lookout for a first 
glimpse of the African coast. About noon land was 
sighted on the Moroccan shore and as we approached 
more nearly, the city of Tangier came into view. 
Just before reaching Tangier we sighted on the rocks 
the wreck of the English steamer upon which the 
Duke and Duchess of Fife so recently came near los- 
ing their hves. As we entered the Mediterranean the 
change in the color of the water was most pronounced 
and definitely defined from the dark blue of the 
Atlantic, to a bright green. By 2 o'clock the houses 
and fortifications of Gibraltar became clearly defined 
and at 3 o'clock we cast anchor just outside the break- 
water. At 4 o'clock all went ashore and our party 
were driven across to the old Spanish town of Linea 
de la Concepcion. The town is composed mostly of 
one story houses stuccoed on the outside and cov- 
ered with tile roofs, some of them so old that they 
are overgrown with moss and other vegetation. The 
streets are narrow, dirty, full of stagnant pools and 
emitting odors in no degree resembUng attar of roses. 
A perfect multitude of children thronged the streets 
and all looked bright, happy and contented. Beggars 



22 

were somewhat in evidence, but in nowise so numerous 
or persistent as those of Funchal. We visited the 
bull-pen where bull-fights are wont to be held, and 
found the arena patterned much after the Roman 
Coliseum, the structure being circular in form and the 
seats rising tier after tier, one above the other. Com- 
ing back from the Spanish town to Gibraltar we dis- 
mounted from our vehicles and walked for nearly 
an hour up and down the main business street, noting 
their methods of doing business, the character of 
goods offered for sale and the dark and inconvenient 
conditions of their store buildings. The houses in 
Gibraltar are generally two to four stories in height 
and much more commodious than those in the Spanish 
town. The streets seemed to be perfectly alive with 
people, but what industry could support and feed 
them all was not apparent to the casual observer. 
Fruits were abundant and tempting. Dates of 
undreamed of sweetness and delicacy, fat and luscious 
figs, oranges that challenge the most succulent flavor 
of a California navel and sweet flowers of infinite 
color and variety are everywhere offered for sale and 
at prices that make a dollar look as big as a cart 
wheel. Turks and Moors strolled the streets with 
lazy and indifferent air, looking picturesque and 
comfortable in their loose baggy trousers, their red 
fezzes and white turbans. English soldiers from the 
garrison in spruce, tight-fitting red jackets, a little 
pill-box of a cap over one ear and an air of dominant 
importance, pushed their way through the narrow and 
crowded thoroughfare regardless of the convenience 
or comfort of the downtrodden Orientals. We 
returned to the ship for dinner at 7 p. m. 



23 

February 11^.. — Arose at 7 a. m., sun shining brightly 
and temperature mild. Went ashore at 8.30 a. ni. 
Took carriage for trip up the mountain. We wo\md 
around between houses built upon the soHd rock, 
going higher and higher until we reached a point where 
we were required to alight, and after procuring a sol- 
dier escort, proceeded to climb along a road or cause- 
way cut deeply out of the solid rock, until finally we 
entered a tunnel, still ascending, and every few rods 
came to a large old-fashioned cannon, with a port-hole 
opening through the rock and facing upon the open 
ocean. The highest point we reached was some 
twelve hundred feet above sea level, and looking down 
upon the houses of the Spanish town below us, they 
resembled the little house-blocks made for children's 
playthings. The view across the harbor is one of 
almost unparalleled beauty — the water thickly dotted 
with vessels of all kinds, from a British man-of-war to 
the smallest fishing smack, and off across to the south, 
the African coast holding its bold outline against a 
cloudless sky. Returning to our carriages we con- 
tinued the drive down and around the rocky moun- 
tain side, passing the Alameda gardens and reach- 
ing by a round-about way again the town of Gibraltar 
and back to the ship again at 12.30 p. m. At 1 p. m. 
the ship sailed for Algiers, and about sunset, on our left, 
the Sierra Nevada mountains of Spain loomed up 
with their snow-capped summits. 

February 15. — Breakfast found us plowing the 
Mediterranean at a sixteen knot pace, bound for 
Algiers with nodand in sight on either side. About 
noon the peaks of the Atlas mountains appeared in 
outline against the southern horizon, and gradually 



24 

the whole coast Hne, with its rugged and undulating 
surface, greeted our eyes. An hour later the white 
and shining houses of the French city of Algiers, 
aligned against the dark-green background of the 
lofty hill-side, presented a beautiful picture to the 
vision. At 2.30 p. m. we anchored outside the break- 
water, being unable to find room inside because of the 
presence of other vessels, among them the Cincinnati 
of the Hamburg American line. 

A steerage passenger died last night of tuberculosis, 
being the second death since we started. Went 
ashore at 4.30 p. m. A surprisingly busy scene pre- 
sented itself. The great massive stone wharves 
were crowded with merchandise of various kinds, 
chief among which were thousands of casks of wine. 
Dozens of carts, driven by dirty, ragged, bare-legged 
and shoeless Arabs, with four horses each, — one in 
front and three abreast in the rear, — were continu- 
ally passing to and fro hauling freight. Winding 
back and forth along the causeway leading up to the 
level of the business portion of the city, we reached 
the main business thoroughfare, running parallel 
with the shore line and extending for possibly a mile 
and a half in length. Everything was bustle and 
activity, and the streets were thronged with a cos- 
mopolitan crowd of French, Spaniards, Italians, 
Turks, Moors, Arabs and Negroes, all but the first 
clothed in habiliments characterized in greater or less 
degree by dirt, rags and filth. The French, as a rule, 
are neatly and many of them elegantly dressed and 
show all the marks of culture and prosperity. Arab 
women peddling embroideries and boys vending 
postal cards assault you at every step with their 
importunities and follow you for blocks. After an 



25 

hour spent looking through the stores, took the street 
cars and rode to the end of the route in each direction. 
The number of new and beautiful business buildings 
and apartment houses ranging from four to seven 
stories in height, is very surprising, and an air of busi- 
ness activity and rapid growth is everywhere mani- 
fest. Returned to the ship at 7 p. m. 

February 16. — Arose for a 7.30 breakfast. At 8.30 
our party went ashore for a drive. We drove up the 
main business street to the end of the street car line, 
then began ascending the hill to the Kasba quarters, 
being the site and ruins of the old Moorish castle. 
Continuing our ascent we skirt the Jardin Marengo, a 
public park laid out on the site of the old Moham- 
medan cemetery. Here on every side are trees, 
shrubs and flowers, most of which are familiar to a 
Calif ornian. Almond trees in bloom, olives, palms, 
magnohas, sycamores, live oaks, bignonias and a 
luxuriant wealth of bougainvilleas climb in purple 
masses over the sides and roofs of the buildings. 
As we continue to ascend in a winding course we 
reach Bella Vista, where one of the most marvelously 
beautiful views of the city and the bay breaks upon 
the sight. At our feet lay the white city, its stuc- 
coed buildings shining with a dazzling brilliancy in 
the warm sunshine, and beyond, the wharves, the 
breakwater, the innumerable vessels, tugs and small 
boats scurrying back and forth, and still beyond, the 
sky blue waters of the crescent shaped bay and the 
hmitless expanse of the Mediterranean. No more 
charming or beautiful vision, it seems, could be spread 
before the gaze of mortal man. Continuing our 
drive we descend by a gradual and winding way to 



26 

the city, passing a former mosque, now the cathedral 
of Notre Dame, the Palace of the Governor, the 
National Library and other public buildings, coming 
at last to the old Arab section of the city with its 
narrow and crooked streets, its fecundity of ragged, 
dirty and offensive looking human beings with whom 
bathing seems to have been a lost art, and finally, wind- 
ing up at noon at the Place de la Republique, a small 
park near the wharf. Here the party dismounted 
from the carriages, the ladies went shopping, while 
Mr. Woodruff — whose companionship I had grown 
to highly appreciate — and myself refreshed ourselves 
at a near-by cafe before returning aboard the ship. 
Roughly speaking, Algiers may be divided into three 
parts; the French town, containing all the best shops, 
which lies along the shore by the harbor; the Arab 
quarter, lying on the slopes of the hill above the 
French town, and "Mustapha Superieur," the fash- 
ionable quarter, lying on a thickly wooded and 
extremely beautiful slope to the southeast of the 
town and containing the villas of the principal resi- 
dents and many fine hotels, patronized mainly by 
English and American travelers. The Arab quarters 
present some very quaint streets and alleys, which, 
however, are dangerous at night to the foreigner, and 
even by day wisdom dictates the leaving of all valu- 
ables aboard ship. It is little more than a hundred 
years ago that Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli constituted 
at once a menace and a disgrace to European and 
^American civilization. Their pirates and corsairs 
infested the Mediterranean Sea and levied tribute 
upon the commerce and upon the citizens of the civi- 
lized world. The United States, in common with 
other civilized powers, had submitted to and paid 



27 

this tribute until it became too burdensome and 
resulted in a declaration of war, which, through the 
activities of the American fleet under Commodores 
Preble, Bainbridge and Decatur, soon brought these 
barbarians to terms. But it is to the French and the 
French only that the world owes the modern regen- 
eration of Algiers; the cleansing of one of the fil- 
thiest Augean stables in the modern world. For more 
than eighty years the French have persistently pur- 
sued the conquest, the reformation, and the develop- 
ment of Algiers, in spite of depleted armies, in spite 
of financial losses, in spite of jealous criticisms from 
other nationalities, until they have caused an evolu- 
tion in the city of Algiers from a collection of mud 
huts, miserable mendicants and miasmatic marshes, 
to one of the busiest commercial marts, with sub- 
stantial modern business buildings, unexcelled at any 
port on the Mediterranean Sea. 

Having finished coaling we sailed out of the harbor 
at 6 p. m., the white star steamship Canopic and the 
Marseilles mail steamer Mustapha having arrived 
almost simultaneously about an hour and a half 
before. It is understood that instead of landing at 
Villefranche, we go direct to Monaco on account of 
labor troubles at the former place. 

February 17. — Weather still beautiful. We are on 
our way to Monaco but are only running at about one- 
half speed, in order, as some say, to save coal, and 
according to others that, as we are ahead of schedule 
time, we may not reach Monaco until Sunday morn- 
ing, it being difficult to land at night in case of heavy 
weather. But whatever the cause, we have dawdled 
along all day, with a sea smooth as a waxed floor and 



28 

as blue as the water in a Monday wash tub. We 
shall lose a number of passengers who are eager to 
meet and greet the temptations of Monte Carlo and are 
expected to receive some shorn lambs at that point if 
they have wool enough left to comfortably clothe 
them for the trip. Nothing of moment occurred 
aboard ship except the usual Saturday evening dance 
and card-playing, and a good night's sleep followed 
preparatory to the landing to-morrow morning. 

February 18. — Cast anchor off Monaco at 6.30 
a. m., breakfasted at 7 o'clock and went ashore at 8.30. 
The approach to Monaco is characterized by the 
same bold, rocky bluffs that greet us at most places 
we have so far visited. Beginning at the water line the 
ground begins to rise with more and more abruptness — 
first a line of buildings paralleling the shore line — then 
a narrow street, — then a terrace with another line of 
buildings, and so on indefinitely to the crest of the 
hill. The buildings in Monaco and Monte Carlo are 
all of stone, the walls that sustain the terraces are of 
stone and the hill or mountain upon which they are 
built is of solid stone. The streets and roads are 
macadamized and are kept in exceedingly clean and 
perfect condition. Upon reaching shore our party 
walked up the long incline to the Casino, where we 
took automobiles for a drive to Nice. The route 
passed along the shore line, giving us an excellent view 
of the harbor and the sea. On reaching Villefranche 
we were greeted with a small but beautiful land- 
locked harbor, where three French battleships and 
half a dozen torpedo boats were anchored, as was also 
the beautiful steam yacht of James Gordon Bennett, 
the latter flying the only American flag we have seen 
in any of the ports. 



29 

Arrived at Nice we left the automobiles and strolled 
through one of the public parks for an hour or two, 
where preparations were being made for a grand floral 
festival on the day following. A goodly portion of 
Nice is built upon fairly level ground, but, as you 
get a few blocks back from the seashore, the same bold 
ridge of hills meets you face to face and the lines of 
terraces and stone walls climb the eternal hills. 
Returning from Nice by the same route, we entered 
the famous Casino of Monte Carlo. Seated at the 
various tables and standing in lines two or three deep 
behind them were men and women in almost equal 
numbers, eagerly risking their money on the turn of 
the roulette wheel. Women young, beautiful and 
handsomely dressed, women old, wrinkled and with 
trembling hands, were alike in the zeal with which 
they deposited their silver or gold coins upon a fa- 
vorite number, and with more or less resignation saw 
them ruthlessly raked into the coffers of the bank. 
Now and then one was encouraged by a five or ten to 
one favorable play, only to linger until the fatal per- 
centage of the game dribbled it all away. I saw 
however but little tenseness or anxiety displayed 
among the players. Most of them sat with placid, 
indifferent expression and took their changes of luck 
with unchanged features, evidently being habitues of 
the game. No bet seemed to be permitted less than 
five francs, and at one or two of the tables a game was 
in progress where nothing but gold appeared in the 
betting. A private room where higher playing was 
in vogue could only be entered upon the payment of 
a fee of five dollars, which exceeded the limit of my 
curiosity. One of the handsomest as well as most 
charming and venturesome ladies of our party, with the 



30 

spirit of daring that characterizes the clear and breezy 
atmosphere of our western life, boldly laid down her 
five franc piece upon the board and a moment later 
was surprised and delighted to have the croupier toss 
her in return sixteen bright and shining five franc 
pieces. With unexampled wisdom and discretion 
she retired beyond the pale of further temptation, 
remarking she had long wanted a nice panama hat 
and now she could afford one. No other trade or 
industry seems to be in vogue except gambling and 
hotel-keeping. 

Monaco is a very old town. Its origin is traced 
with more or less authenticity by historians far back 
in the centuries to 1700 B.C., although it was little 
spoken of until some twelve hundred years later. 

In the days when Hannibal and his Carthaginian 
legions were seeking the destruction of Rome the 
people of Monaco and immediate surroundings 
were also engaged in deadly hostility to the Romans. 
Following down the centuries Monaco sided with 
Csesar in his contest v/ith Pompey and the former, 
after his victory, embarked from Monaco to Rome. 
It has been successive!}^ under Roman, Spanish and 
French rule and is now an independent principality. 
It contains about fifteen hundred or two thousand 
inhabitants and holds little of interest to the stranger 
except the Palace and the Casino. The former is 
said to contain many fine pictures and frescoes, 
though it is difficult to obtain admission, especially 
when the Prince is at home. The Casino is a hand- 
some, though not highly ornamental building, con- 
taining a reading room with periodicals from almost 
every country, a fine ball room and an excellent band 
which discourses sweet music every afternoon and 



31 

evening. Extreme poverty does not seem to be 
prevalent among the people, and yet one is beseeched 
on every hand for charity, apparently more from habit 
than anj'^thing else. The road from Monaco to Men- 
tone is unsurpassed for scenic beauty. Hewn out 
of the face of the mountain it winds in a yellow ser- 
pentine way among a forest of fig, fir, locust, carob 
and olive trees, many of the latter being of immense 
size and bearing the scars of a thousand years bat- 
tling with the elements. At 2.30 p. m. we returned to 
the ship and sailed for Naples at 6 p. m. 

February 19. — Awoke in the morning still on the 
watery way to Naples. Passed the Islands of Cor- 
sica and Elba during the night. About 3 p. m. 
came in sight of the island of Ischia on the left and 
shortly after on the right the island of Capri, with 
Mount Vesuvius looming up in front of us and the 
city of Naples stretching for several miles along the 
shore. Entered the Bay of Naples and anchored 
inside the breakwater, half a mile from shore, about 
5 p. m. Many cabin passengers left us here and about 
two hundred steerage passengers. Three large barge 
loads of baggage were fished from the bowels of the 
ship and went ashore also, where the owners were 
obliged to stand or sit for hours awaiting the slow 
and irritating actions of the customs officers. At 
5.30 we went ashore for an hour or two, to look around 
the city. Walked up town several blocks, coming 
at last to a public square or plaza containing a monu- 
ment surmounted by a heroic sized statue of Gari- 
baldi. The streets seemed to be crowded with sol- 
diers, policemen and officials of various character. 
Three transports were at the dock bearing wounded 



32 

and sick soldiers from the campaign in Tripoli and pre- 
pared to re-load with fresh reinforcements for the war 
against Turkey. The beauties of the Bay of Naples 
have been exploited in song and story the world over 
for generations, and it is probably the rankest and 
most presumptuous heresy to discount in any degree 
these superlative descriptions, and yet to my mind 
the Bay of Algiers far surpasses it in scenic beauty. 
But possibly when we return to Naples and have 
opportunity to view the bay from the heights above 
the city the impression of the present may be modi- 
fied. On our arrival the view of Mount Vesuvius 
was clear and free from clouds. It was having a 
restful day, however, and only now and then did a 
slight rim of white smoke or steam show itself above 
the crater. The white line of the inclined railway 
was plainly visible as it climbed the steep side of the 
mountain. All night long the process of unloading 
cargo and coaling ship proceeded amidst the noise of 
machinery and the voluble and excited exclamations 
of the Italian coal-heavers as they dumped basket 
after basket of coal into the depths of the bunkers. 

February 20. — Arose at 8 a. m. and found we were 
still at anchor in the harbor of Naples. However, at 
9.45 the unloading and coaling having been finished, 
we weighed anchor and bore out of the harbor, 
bound for Alexandria, where, alas, we leave this beau- 
tiful and most comfortable ship for we know not 
what. At 6 p. m. we passed the island and volcano 
of Stromboli rising abruptly from the sea to a con- 
siderable height. A village of some proportions lies 
at the foot of the mountain. The summit of the peak 
was hidden from view by a very heavy black cloud 



33 

which seemed to envelop the whole mountain half- 
way to the foot. According to the guide-book Strom- 
boU is 3,022 feet high. 

At 8 p. m. we entered the Strait of Messina, passing 
Scylla and Charybdis of ancient fame and fear, 
and soon coming in sight of the long line of hghts 
from the city of Messina on the starboard side and 
of Reggio on the port. Both these cities were par- 
tially destroyed by the earthquake of 1908, the former 
losing two-thirds and the latter three-fourths of its 
population. 

February 21. — Today has been a monotonous all 
day sail with no land in sight on either side and the 
weather clear and warm in the sunshine, but with a 
cool stiff breeze blowing. This afternoon our party 
assembled in the Lounge to receive preliminary 
instructions regarding the trip up the Nile. Instead of 
having a couple of days in Cairo, as we had expected, 
we find that the river steamer will leave the same 
day of our arrival and that we shall have to leave 
Alexandria immediately after arrival there in order 
to connect with the boat at Cairo. Everybody 
seems to be getting tired of the long trip on ship- 
board, but I apprehend it will be some time before we 
are again so comfortably situated. 

February 22. — To-day is but a repetition of yester- 
day, steadily steaming S.S.E.,with a limitless waste of 
water on either side. Many of the passengers made 
their appearance on deck after breakfast, with small 
American flags attached to their persons, and at 
dinner the orchestra, as a finale, played a medley of 
American airs, winding up with Dixie and The Star 
1677—3 



34 

Spangled Banner, amid much enthusiastic applause. 
The sun went down like a great ball of fire, followed 
by an afterglow and cloud painting as gorgeous as the 
tints of Moran's Yellowstone. 

February 23. — This morning at 6 o'clock we came 
to anchor in the harbor of Alexandria. It is a large, 
well protected harbor, inside a substantial break- 
water or sea wall of masonry. The outlook is radi- 
cally different from that of any port we have pre- 
viously entered. Instead of the bold, rocky and 
mountainous shores of Madeira, Gibraltar, Algiers 
and Morocco, the view is that of a perfectly flat, water- 
level country, resembling very much the delta of the 
Mississippi River, and in fact it has been formed in 
exactly the same manner from the alluvial deposits 
brought down during the flood-periods of the great 
river above it. After breakfast we went ashore and 
were hustled without ceremony and without oppor- 
tunity to see the city — amidst the shrieks and 
demands of innumerable insatiable Arabs — into the 
waiting train for Cairo, where we arrived at 1 p. m. 
The ride through the country between these points is 
a revelation to the untraveled American. On every 
hand is a hive of industry. At every glance some- 
thing strange and unique greets the eye. Every acre 
— nay every square foot — is intensively cultivated and 
all under ancient but effective methods of irrigation. 
In some places the water is lifted from the irrigating 
canals into the lateral ditches by a large hollow wheel 
with holes at regular intervals for the outlet of the 
water, the motive power in most instances being the 
water buffalo. 



35 

At other places the water is Hfted by means of a 
hand-power well-sweep in a bucket to the first level, 
and then by a second uplifting operation of the same 
character is carried to the level of the lateral ditch. 
At every point you see wide areas of alfalfa, corn, 
wheat, beans, garden vegetables and sugar-cane in a 
forward state of growth. Other fields are being pre- 
pared for crops, the plowing being done with an old- 
fashioned wooden plow pulled by a team of water 
buffaloes. Camels and donkeys are everj^where seen, 
the former frequently in long column following closely 
after one another, carrying burdens of various kinds 
stowed away in panniers hung from each side of the 
saddle. Every driver of a donkey or camel carries 
a bunch of alfalfa with him as fodder and it is doled 
out to the animal with greatest care. On reaching 
Cairo we went immediately aboard the little Nile 
steamer Mayflower, where we were assigned our rooms 
and sat down to lunch, after which a small gasoline 
launch carried us to the opposite bank of the river, 
where we were taken in carriages up one of the prin- 
cipal and most beautiful streets of the city to the 
Hamburg- American steamship office. The beauty 
and solidity of the buildings in Cairo were far beyond 
expectations. As our boat was to leave promptly 
at 4 p. m. we had but about an hour for looking 
around. Promptly at the hour fixed we cast loose 
from the bank and proceeded up the Nile. The 
prospect from the start was one of unprecedented 
novelty and beauty. The banks of the river are low 
and for several miles on each side the land is level 
and subject to the fertilizing overflow of its waters. 
The country is teeming with population, all appar- 
ently busy plowing, sowing or harvesting crops. 



36 

Every few minutes we passed a village of mud houses 
with roofs thatched with corn stalks, covered with 
manure, and surrounding or adjacent to each house 
is a large pile of dried camel chips, presumably for fuel 
or fertilizing, and with an odor that is reminiscent 
of the Augean stables. The great pyramids of Ghizeh 
are in sight on our right and the groves of date palms 
intersperse the landscape here and there, resembling 
feather dusters with the feathers somewhat the worse 
for wear. They are, however, quite picturesque and 
lend much beauty and variety to the generally entranc- 
ing scene. Fourteen miles above Cairo we reached 
our first stopping place and tied up to the bank for the 
night. 

February 24-. — Arose at 6 a. m., breakfasted at 6.30, 
and at 8 o'clock our dragoman was ready with our 
donkeys and Arab donkey boys. All mounted and 
set out for our first point of sight-seeing, this being the 
village of Badrashen. It is a town of some five or 
six thousand inhabitants, composed entirely of adobe 
huts, mostly of one story and filled with Arabs, dirt, 
goats and monuments of camel chips. Passing 
through the town and skirting several beautiful 
groves of date palms and fields of bright green barley 
and alfalfa, we came to the site of the ancient city 
of Memphis, founded by Menes in the first Egyptian 
dynasty, 4400 B. C. Memphis suffered many dis- 
asters in the various wars and the buildings were 
finally pulled down from time to time by the Moham- 
medans and others and the stones used in the building 
of old Cairo and other cities. The first object of 
interest on the site of Memphis is the colossal statue 
of Rameses II. It formerly stood in front of the 



37 

temple of Ptah, but is now prostrate and broken. 
It is made of very fine hard limestone and was 
upwards of forty feet in height. Leaving the statue 
we continued our ride on to Sakkara, which was the 
sacred burying-ground of the ancient Egyptians. 
Here are four pyramids, one called the step pyramid, 
being built of stones about three or four feet square 
and being about two hundred feet in height and said 
to be the oldest pyramid in the world. Another 
object of interest is the tomb of the Apis bulls where 
all the sacred bulls were buried in granite sarcophagi. 
These long unknown tombs were rediscovered and 
excavated in 1 850 by M . Mariette. The old historian, 
Herodotus, describes the Apis as "the calf of a cow 
incapable of conceiving another offspring; and the 
Egyptians say that lightning descends upon the cow 
from Heaven and that from thence it brings forth 
Apis. This calf, which is called Apis, has the fol- 
lowing marks : It is black and has a triangular spot 
of white on the forehead, and on the back the figure 
of an eagle; and in the tail double hairs and on the 
tongue a beetle." The tomb of Thi is also an object 
of great interest. It was originally all above ground 
but in the lapse of ages has been covered by the drift- 
ing sands. Its galleries have been excavated and 
cleared out so that you can enter and follow their 
various windings, the walls of which are decorated 
with paintings and carvings in the stone showing Thi 
and his household in the performance of their multi- 
farious farm and domestic duties and in his numerous 
hunting and fishing excursions. Speaking again of 
the tombs of the Apis or sacred bulls — they are hewn 
out of the solid rock and have a length of nearly 
four hundred yards — are on each side of a passage 



38 

way some ten feet wide and eighteen or twenty feet 
high. These bulls were worshipped by the ancient 
Egyptians and at death were embalmed and buried 
in huge stone coffins chiseled out of a single piece of 
granite or limestone thirteen feet in length, seven feet 
wide and eleven feet high, and each weighing more than 
sixty-five tons. Our return trip was timed so as to 
reach the boat for lunch. The trip was altogether 
unique and intensely interesting. The wonderful 
strength and endurance of the donkey boys is marvel- 
ous. For hours they follow behind the donkeys and 
keep them on the trot, most of the time shouting 
and gesticulating without apparent fatigue. My 
donkey's name was Yankee Doodle, and the small 
Arab boy who engineered and guided him spoke 
smattering English enough to recite the song of Yankee 
Doodle Dandy and to suggest every few minutes, in 
very plaintive tones, that he would like a little back- 
sheesh to buy some clover for the pony. Shortly after 
reaching the boat we again cast off the lines and pro- 
ceeded up the river, coming about 5 o'clock to a fleet 
of Egyptian boats, all anchored in the channel of the 
river and blocking our farther progress, until by means 
of puUing and pushing and amid great excitement 
and angry gesticulation among the native crews, we 
squeezed our way between them and continued on 
throughout the night, although the original program 
provided for our landing and tying up at 10 o'clock. 
The picturesque hamlets of mud, surrounded by the 
clustering palms, which forever bend their feather- 
like leaves to the gentlest breeze; the blue-robed 
women who come with their graceful poise to the 
river's side to fill their balanced pitchers; the village 
girls and boys driving the buffaloes to drink — all these 
diversify the picture. 



39 

February 25. — All day long we have been pushing 
our way up the Nile with great similarity of view to 
that already passed, viz : mud villages, chattering and 
excited Arabs, patches of alfalfa, wheat and sugar- 
cane, groves of date palms and fleets of sail-boats 
loaded with limestone and other freight — except that 
on the east bank, a little over a hundred miles above 
Cairo, the country becomes rougher and the river 
is flanked closely by limestone bluffs, ranging from 
fifty to three hundred feet in height . This stone, when 
quarried and dressed, is almost as white and beautiful 
as marble. About one hundred and twenty miles 
above Cairo on the west bank we pass the town 
of El-kais, where is located a Coptic convent. Min- 
yah,the capital of the province of the same name, with 
a population of twenty thousand, was passed during 
the afternoon, and at 5.30 we tied up for the night at 
Beni-Hasan, where are some famous tombs that we 
shall visit to-morrow. A miscellaneous gathering 
of natives and donkeys greeted us. After a short 
walk on shore we returned to the boat to dinner and 
listened to a lecture from Doctor Dunning. 

February 26. — Breakfast at 7 a. m. Aboard the 
donkeys at 7.30, lined up for the village of Beni-Hasan, 
half a mile from shore, through the narrow street 
of which we rode amidst the worst bedlam of screeches, 
howls and appeals for backsheesh we have yet experi- 
enced. Everyone, from infancy to imbecile old age, 
had an outstretched hand and an appealing cry. Pass- 
ing on we climbed the hill to a high mesa at the foot 
of a towering ledge of limestone, out of the solid sides 
of which were the excavations for the temple of Speos 
Artemidos. The walls were adorned with carvings 



40 

in the solid rock and also with paintings illustrative 
of the everyday life and occupations of the builder. 
Passing from here by a trail leading along the foot of 
the bluff, for a couple of miles, we came to the tombs 
of Beni-Hasan, thirty-nine in number, which are also 
carved out of the solid rock, the roof being sup- 
ported by sundry pillars or columns more or less 
carved and ornamented. In one tomb the columns 
were fluted Corinthian and in another, the tomb of 
Kahdi, each column represents four lotus stems with 
unopened buds, and painted in red, blue and yellow. 
The view of the Valley of the Nile from these heights 
is broad and beautiful. Returned to the boat at 9.30 
and proceeded up the river at 10 a. m., passing Roda 
and sundry other small villages, at the former of 
which is a large sugar factory. The east bank of 
the river has been characterized all day long by a steep, 
lofty and continuous cliff of white limestone, which 
is at many points being blasted and rolled down to the 
river's edge to be loaded on the native vessels, to be 
used for rip-rapping the river's banks, for building 
stone and for converting into lime. About 11 p. m. 
we tied up to the bank just below the dam at Asyut, 
two hundred and fifty miles above Cairo. 

February 27. — Arose for a 7.30 breakfast and looked 
out upon a crowd of natives on native boats lining the 
shore and also upon several native men, naked and 
taking their morning bath in the river with the ther- 
mometer standing at 45°. In a few moments we cast 
off our lines and steamed into the lock followed by four 
native vessels and were lifted to the level of the water 
above the dam. This dam is about half a mile long 
and is composed of a series of limestone arches or 



41 

openings more than one hundred in number, on top of 
which is a bridge floor for both animals and pedes- 
trians. The difference in level of the water above 
and below the dam is eight feet three inches. After 
breakfast we went ashore amidst the excited impor- 
tunities of native merchants, who lined the bank, with 
metallic embroidered shawls for sale . Mounted on don- 
keys or in carriages we set out for the town of Asyut, 
passing through the principal streets and the bazar. 
We have seen filth in multiplied forms before, but 
never in such magnificent extravagance and in such 
richness of detail as here. Flies swarm in countless 
millions over everything and everybody. Children 
from babes in arms up, can be seen with their faces 
absolutely covered with flies and manifesting no 
apparent annoyance and making no effort to remove 
them. Grown people and children alike attend 
to the calls of nature whenever and wherever the spirit 
moves them, be it beside the front door or in the market 
place. Passing through the village we ascended a 
high hill and visited several tombs of a similar char- 
acter to those already visited. From the summit of 
the hill we had a fine view of the city and surrounding 
country. On the return journey we stopped for half 
an hour and visited a Protestant mission school in 
which some of our party appeared deeply interested. 
Asyut is noted for its pottery manufactures and also 
as one of the chief places for the manufacture of white 
and black tulle shawls, embroidered in gold and silver, 
and for which tourists pay all sorts of prices, meas- 
ured only by their gullibility. An Arab merchant 
will begin by offering the shawls at from ten to 
twenty-five dollars, according to quahty, but will wind 
up, if the tourist is sufficiently patient and conserva- 



42 

tive, in clinching a sale at two to five dollars each. 
We reached the boat shortly after 11a. m.,and imme- 
diately cast off and proceeded up the river. 

February 28. — After an all night run we reached, 
shortly after breakfast, the city of Abydos, about four 
hundred miles above Cairo. Instead of a donkey 
we took a sand cart for a drive to the temples 
of Seti I and Rameses II. Seven or eight miles 
across a level country of great fertility and product- 
iveness, intersected by several large irrigating canals, 
and carrying heavy crops of beans, wheat, barley 
and sugar cane, brought us to the temples, whose 
present ruined condition served only as a guide to the 
imagination in picturing the magnificence of their 
original architectural and artistic beauty. The roofs 
of the temples were supported by limestone columns, 
some forty feet in height and six feet in diameter. 
Every inch, not only of these columns, but of the walls 
of the temples, was covered with carved figures and 
hieroglyphics illustrating the life, the occupations, the 
adventures and the achievements of the kings who 
erected them. The carvings on the pillars were 
uncolored, but those on the walls were beautifully 
colored, and while in most cases the coloring is badly 
deteriorated, yet in some of the best protected spots 
it is still quite vivid. These ruins mark the site of 
the oldest known capital of Egypt. The ride back 
to the boat was somewhat tempered in its pleasure by 
the slowness of our pony and the heat of the sun. 
Immediately following our return the boat proceeded 
on up the river until 6 o'clock p. m., when we tied up 
for the night at Nag Hamadi, where a railroad bridge 
crosses the Nile and where a large sugar factory is 
located. 



43 

February 29. — At 7.30 a. m. we cast off from shore 
and proceeded through the draw of the railroad bridge, 
which is only open for half an hour twice a day. We 
have been passing to-day many shadoufs with the 
natives industriously raising the water from level 
to level for irrigating their crops. It is work well 
calculated for muscular development, and their lithe 
and active bodies carry not a pound of surplus or 
flabby flesh. The Egyptians average fully as great 
in height as Americans, which is rather a surprise to 
me. We have passed to-day great fields of poppies 
in full bloom, for the first time on the trip. The 
scenery is unchanged and monotonous and the tem- 
perature is reaching the point of discomfort, standing 
above eighty degrees in the shade on the boat and 
hotter than a Sacramento Valley Fourth of July in the 
sun. Shortly after lunch we stopped at Denderah 
where the donkeys were in waiting to take us to the 
temples, a half hour's ride distant. Taking into 
consideration the state of the temperature and the 
similarity of temples and tombs at different points, 
I considered discretion the better part of valor and 
remained aboard the boat, while most of the party 
proceeded on the trip. At 8 p. m. reached Luxor. 
At 10.30 went ashore and had a moonlight view of the 
temple of Luxor, which stands only about one hun- 
dred yards from the landing. In the soft and sub- 
dued light of the moon the effect was awe inspiring 
and transcended anything we have yet seen. 

March 1. — Arising just as the sun was greeting the 
horizon, the air was soft and balmy as a California 
summer morning. The yellow cliffs of the ragged 
mountain range on the west bank began to take on a 



44 

pinkish tint which gradually deepened to a royal 
purple, and finally shaded off into a robin's egg blue. 
The sky was as blue as a Colorado sapphire and as 
guiltless of clouds as an Egyptian peasant boy fre- 
quently is of clothes. At 8,30 we mounted our 
donkeys and set out for a view of the great temple of 
Karnak. I shall attempt no description of this won- 
derful ruin with its colossal columns, its extended 
avenues of sphinxes and wonderful carvings and bas 
reliefs, for all that can be obtained in extenso from the 
guide-books. After spending several hours in study- 
ing the ruins we returned to the boat for lunch and 
spent the afternoon in wandering about the town, 
which contains ten or a dozen small stores and several 
tourist hotels, one of which, the Winter Palace, is new, 
beautiful and modern in all its appointments, sur- 
rounded by extensive grounds filled with trees, 
shrubs and beautiful flowers. Several English noble- 
men and many wealthy Germans were among its 
guests for the winter. The ruins of the Luxor temple 
are lacking in the carvings and inscriptions that char- 
acterize Karnak and are much more impressive by 
moonlight than in the sharp glare of the midday sun. 

March 2. — Having contracted a severe cold, I 
found on rising this morning that I was unfit for 
excursion duty. Concluded therefore to cut out the 
official trip of the day, which consisted in crossing the 
river in a native sail boat and a visit to the tomb of 
the Kings, the temples of Kurnah, Ramisseum and 
the Colossi. 

The ancient city of Thebes with its one hundred 
gates, its teeming population and its historical splen- 
dor stood upon the site surrounding us and covered 



45 

both banks of the Nile. The chmate of Egypt has 
been eulogized unstintedly by the guide books, but 
to me it is most trying. Its sudden changes from heat 
to cold and from balmy, dreamy quiet to blustering, 
disagreeable winds, with the sand filling your eyes and 
mouth, has no counterpart outside of San Francisco. 

By train or boat, crowds of tourists are constantly 
arriving, half of whom are Americans and the re- 
mainder English, French and German, the latter pre- 
dominating. The restlessness of thrift and pros- 
perity has become epidemic; and the privations, dis- 
comforts and irritating conditions that .people of 
assured incomes will undergo, under the guise of satis- 
fying their curiosity and having a good time, are more 
astonishing than the works of antiquity and the 
peculiarities of the people they spend their money to 
see. America, even with its inflictions of Teddy 
Roosevelt and Wm. Jennings Bryan, and sundry other 
grievous pests, is paradise compared with anything 
we have steered up against in this oriental domain. 

But as I sat here on deck waiting for the dinner call, 
the sun went down in a bank of clouds and for a few 
minutes the dullness of the shades and shadows gave 
disappointment; the yellow hills turned to a dark 
gray and it looked as if the twilight was about to close 
into evening's darkness, when suddenly, the clouds 
began to light up; a stream of crimson shot athwart 
the northern sky; then a tinge of lavender underlaid 
with a belt of gold, trimmed with a fringe of azure 
blue, all finally shading into a broad curtain of blaz- 
ing red, as if the day of judgment had arrived and the 
western half of the world was being consumed with 
an all pervading conflagration. For nearly half an 
hour it seemed, though possibly not so long, this beau- 



46 

tiful painting adorned the western horizon, and then, 
as its glory faded, the silvery shades of the beautiful 
moon cast their glamour over the eastern sky and 
lighted up the ruins of the temple, filUng every column 
and niche with a ghostly and mystical aspect reminisc- 
ent of the pomp and glory of ancient Thebes. The 
spot upon which ancient Thebes stood is admirably 
adapted for the site of a great city. The mountains 
on the east and west sides of the river sweep away 
from it and leave a broad plain on each bank, of several 
square miles in extent, easily adapted to irrigation 
from the waters of the Nile. It is here that the great 
river makes its nearest approach to the Red Sea and 
then soon turns away from it in a great bend to the 
west. 

It seems that in those days there were men whose 
egotism reached a point in no wise inferior to that of 
some of our public men of to-day. For instance, 
in the reign of one of the early sovereigns of Thebes, 
there lived a famous artist and sculptor who said of 
himself: "I know the things of sacred literature and 
the regulations of the festivals and every word of 
power with which a man should be provided. I have 
never put them away from me. I am, moreover, 
a workman skilled in his craft, who, by reason of his 
knowledge, hath risen above all others. I have 
knowledge concerning the water flood of the Nile and 
of the rising of the scales in making reckoning by 
weighing, and how to depict the motion of a limb 
when it is extended and withdrawn to its place. I 
know how to depict the gait of a man and the way 
in which a woman beareth herself, and the two arms 
of Horus and the twelve abodes of the monster and 
how to gaze with that unequaled eye which striketh 



47 

terror into the fiends, and how to balance the arm 
in such a way as to smite down the Hippopotamus, 
and how to depict the stride of him who runneth. 
I know how to make the amulets which will enable us 
to go unharmed through every fire whatsoever and 
which will keep us from being washed away by any 
water whatsoever. No man getteth skill in these 
matters except myself and the eldest son of my 
body, unto whom God hath decreed that he should 
advance in them. " Is there any need for the geneal- 
ogist to search further for the ancient lineal ancestor 
of the Roosevelt family? 

March 3. — Spent the morning looking about the 
streets and shops of Luxor and strolled through the 
beautiful grounds of the Winter Palace Hotel, filled with 
trees, shrubs and flowering plants. Among the cul- 
tivated flowers is a row of old fashioned Jimson weed, 
such as used to line neglected yards and waste places 
in Ohio when I was a boy. Roses do not seem to do 
well here, most of the buds being blasted either by 
the trying winds or insect pests. At 11 a. m. all 
lines were cast off, and we proceeded up the river, pass- 
ing here and there date palm groves, sugar factories 
and natives busily engaged at their shadoufs irrigat- 
ing their crops. 

Arrived at Esna, four hundred and eighty-five 
miles from Cairo, about 5 p.m.; landed and proceeded 
through the village on foot to the temple of Thotmes 
III. While this is one of the latest temples built and is 
of minor dimensions compared with Karnak, its 
portico is supported by twenty-four of the most 
beautifully carved columns; the capital of each col- 
umn is of a different pattern and every inch, both 



48 ■ 

of the columns and of the walls of the temple, is cov- 
ered by the most artistic and best preserved speci- 
mens of hieroglyphics and historical bas-reliefs that 
have greeted us. Leaving Esna we proceeded up 
the river some thirty miles, passing several small 
villages on the way and reaching Edfu at 11 p. m., 
where the boat tied up for the night and a number of 
the party went on an exploring expedition through the 
town. 

In the morning an excursion was made to the temple 
which, though not so ancient as some others, is remark- 
able for its almost complete state of preservation. 
Begun more than two hundred years B. C, it was over 
one hundred and eighty years in building, with towers 
more than one hundred feet high. The columns and 
pylons are covered with historical inscriptions showing 
battle scenes, hunting and domestic incidents. The 
temple had in course of time been completely buried 
by the shifting sands of the desert and other houses 
and stables had been built above its roof, but about 
fifty years ago, M. Mariette, under the auspices of an 
archeological society, caused the debris to be exca- 
vated and once more exposed the beautiful building 
to the gaze and admiration of the modern traveler. 

March 4- — About 11 a. m. we reached Kom Ombo 
and stopped for an hour to visit the temple, which was 
very similar in its general aspects to those already 
seen. Here are the mummified carcasses of two 
alligators. Although the temple was but a short 
distance from the boat-landing the trip was very 
uncomfortable on account of the heat. I have never 
felt the rays of the midsummer sun in California 
more intense than at this place. By sundown, how- 



49 

ever, it was cool enough for an overcoat. For the last 
twenty miles the river has narrowed up to about one- 
half its previous width. Another beautiful sunset 
characterized the close of the day. At 7.30 p. m. we 
reached Assouan. The meals on the boat during 
the trip have been progressively bad, consisting of five 
or six courses of indescribable and mysterious com- 
pounds, each one more distasteful than its predecessor. 
To add to the aggravation of it the steward stops you 
each time as you leave the dining room and inquires 
how you enjoyed your meal. 

March 5. — At 8.30 a. m. took a boat rowed by six 
natives and visited the temple of Isis, which stands on 
the island of Philae and which, owing to the construc- 
tion of the Assouan dam, is now partially submerged. 
When the addition to the dam now in process of con- 
struction is finished the temple will be almost entirely 
submerged. 

The temple of Isis or Philae is not as large as those 
at Luxor and Karnak, but is very similar in style of 
construction. From the temple we re-entered our 
boats and were rowed to the Assouan dam, about two 
and one-half miles below Philae ; there we landed and 
had lunch. Owing to the constructive work in prog- 
ress we were not permitted to walk across the dam, 
but walked down to thecanal locks where, after seeing 
a native plunge fifty or sixty feet from the surface of 
the lock to the water below and rewarding him with 
backsheesh, we took to our boats again at the lower 
of four locks and rowed to the village of Assouan, 
where we spent an hour exploring the mysteries of the 
bazaar with its infinity of small shops and curious 
wares of every oriental pattern. Returned to the 
1677—4 



50 

steamerat 5p.m. The Assouan dam is considered one 
of the greatest of its kind in existence, while its greatest 
head of water (66 feet) is far surpassed by several of 
the irrigation projects in the United States its great 
length — more than one and one-fourth miles — gives 
character to the claims for the vastness of the proj- 
ect. Opposite the village is Elephantine Island, some- 
what noted for its tombs, but which did not excite our 
curiosity sufficiently to visit it. This island was 
regarded in the ancient days as the key to lower 
Egypt from the south and during the Roman occu- 
pation was strongly fortified and garrisoned. 

March 6. — At 2 a. m. a number of our party got up 
to see the southern cross, but did not feel repaid for the 
exertion. At 11.30 a. m. started on our return trip 
down the river, reaching Kom Ombo at 2.30 p. m. 
and stopping for another view of the ruins. Just 
below here is a very large irrigation plant pumping 
through three immense main pipes and supplying 
water sufficient for the irrigation of forty thousand 
acres. In fact the ancient and the modern are curi- 
ously commingled along the whole stretch of this 
mighty river. Within sight of this modern irrigating 
plant, with its Herculean engines, can be seen the untir- 
ing native operating his shadouf in the same identical 
way that characterized his ancestors four thousand 
years ago in refreshing the thirsty soil. Side by side 
with obelisks and tombs one sees the smoking chimney 
of an up-to-date sugar factory, with its massive and 
complicated machinery, and all along the banks, in 
inconsistent defiance of their repose, the railway 
engine shrieks its triumphant challenge to the slow 
and ungainly camel, and the telegraph spins its thread 
and sends stock quotations of London and Paris in 



51 

front of the stony and unmoved faces of old Rameses 
and the Colossi. Life and death here are ever in sight 
and in perpetual contrast. The land is one sublime 
charnel house saved only from mournfulness by the 
ever fertilizing river of life which passes through it. 
At 8 p. m. tied up for the night at Edfu. Another 
magnificent sunset greeted us this evening, following 
a whole day of very strong, disagreeable cold wind, 
with the sky partially covered with scattering clouds 
and the air full of fine particles of sand. 

March 7. — At 8 a. m, most of the party went ashore 
for another view of the temple of Edfu. Continuing 
our trip down the river, about 2 p. m. we passed through 
the lock of the dam at Esna, reached Luxor at 6 p.m., 
and the tints of evening which begin so early already 
clothed the abrupt and channeled mountains with 
their mother-of-pearl hues. The princely date palm 
is almost the only landscape companion and its colors 
vary as do the colors of everything here through the 
nice gradations of daylight. As the fresh morning 
strikes it, it is of a silvery green, and in full light its 
stem is a golden brown, warmer than any other tints 
in the landscape, and when the wind is strong its 
graceful hair is tossed over its eyes like that of a 
mermaid amidst the waves. 

March 8. — Still at Luxor. Ten of our party crossed 
the river and made a trip on donkeys to the tombs of 
the Queens. Everybody at Luxor sells antiques. 
The Arab idea of our meaning of the word antique 
seems to be something beautiful or that commands 
the admiration, and that it is applicable alike to 
scarabs, chameleons, babies or watermelons. If you 



52 

examine or take an apparent fancy to any object in 
his stock, it becomes at once in his eyes and by his 
most fervent assurance a "sure enough" antique. 

March 9. — Still at Luxor. In company with my 
congenial friend Woodruff wandered through the 
gardens surrounding the Luxor and Winter Palace 
hotels and patronized some of the photograph shops. 
The sun is very hot — thermometer 92° in the shade. 
Left the steamer at 6 p. m. and boarded the railroad 
train for Cairo an hour later,. The sleeping car was 
hot and stuffy and packed to the limit with irritable 
and perspiring humanity. In comfort or conven- 
ience it is not to be mentioned in the same class with 
a modern Pullman. We were offered and some of us 
ate a supposititious dinner aboard the train com- 
posed of the vilest compounds, such as would have 
made fairly good slop for the hogs at home. 

March 10. — Reached Cairo at 7.50 a. m. and went 
directly to Shepheard's Hotel. It is in the center of 
the busiest part of Cairo and from its portico the 
scene is one of kaleidoscopic beauty and variety. 
At every glance the scene is new and varied. Passing 
in review are a dozen or two street merchants vending 
with industrious persistency their wares of silver 
spangled shawls, gaudy beads, scarabs of doubtful 
antiquity and Turkish rugs of varied value. Mendi- 
cants of a hundred different ailments, appealing 
with annoying pertinacity for backsheesh; boys in 
circus tights turning somersaults and cartwheels on 
the hard asphalt pavement almost under the passing 
horses' feet in the hope of a half piastre contribution 
from some easy going tenderfoot; dozens of postal- 



53 

card vendors with views of everything in Egypt, 
ancient or modern; peddlers of Nile water at half- 
penny a glass and slight of hand performers, whose 
skill in deceiving the eye is little less than marvelous. 
Arabs of clear, almost copper-colored complexion and 
wearing a red fez; Egyptians of darker shade with 
vari-colored turbans and skirts touching the ground ; 
Nubians and Soudanese, black as the night, with 
wooly hair, thick lips and shining white teeth much 
in evidence by reason of their smiling good nature; 
French, Italian and German Jews, who are proprie- 
tors of most of the small shops; Dragomen with their 
gaily and many colored habiliments wearing their 
badge of office in silver or gold letters upon the left 
arm; Turkish soldiers and native policemen clothed 
in khaki uniforms and making their authority manifest 
at frequent intervals by scattering the hoodlums and 
beggars, and to finish up the panorama are the hun- 
dreds of American, German and English tourists 
arriving and departing in a continuously flowing 
stream. It is the beginning and the end of the gen- 
erations. Long strings of ancient moth-eaten camels 
such as furnished the transportation in the days of 
Abraham ; trains of donkeys like unto the one ridden 
into Jerusalem by our Saviour; bicycles and auto- 
mobiles of the latest twentieth century pattern are 
all in evidence and all essential to the varied dealings 
and doings of this combination city of the Occident 
and Orient, this city of the past and present. A more 
varied, conglomerate and highly colored human pic- 
ture cannot be found on this great round world of 
ours. At 3 p. m., in company with Mr. Woodruff, 
took the tram car and went out to see the great 
Pyramids and the Sphinx. At a distance the Pyra- 



54 

mids look as if they were smooth and finished, but a 
close approach shows them to be rough and sadly- 
disintegrated on the outside by the remorseless inroads 
of time. Great masses of debris that have crumbled 
from the sides, lie scattered about and are more or less 
covered up by the continually shifting and drifting 
sands of the desert. In such a climate as that of the 
United States these monuments of an early civiliza- 
tion would have disintegrated, collapsed and entirely 
disappeared thousands of years ago, but in a country 
where it rarely ever rains and never freezes, the life 
of limestone and even of wood itself is immeasurably 
prolonged. We saw people in considerable numbers 
ascending and descending the great Pyramid of Cheops 
with the boosting aid of Arab guides, and one common 
every day American dog followed his master to the top 
and back with apparent delight and without assist- 
ance. Passing beyond the Pyramid we came to a 
bench whence we could look down upon the Sphinx, 
but did not go further, as we expect to go again the 
latter part of the week. 

March 11. — This morning we took a long drive out 
to the site of ancient Heiiopolis, about five miles 
northeast of Cairo, stopping on the way at the small 
village of Matariya, where, according to the tradition 
of the credulous, are the tree and well where Joseph 
and the Virgin Mary sat down to rest on their flight 
to Egypt with the child Jesus. Our guide, however, 
took pains to destroy the depth of our reverence by 
informing us that the old sycamore tree, which is 
now prostrate, was planted in the seventeenth cen- 
tury of our era and that it is supposed in the vagaries 
of faith-filled minds to have been planted on the 



55 

selfsame spot where its apocryphal predecessor 
sheltered the weary refugees with their sacred child. 
There is also close by a spring or well in which the 
infant's garments are alleged to have been washed, 
the water from which, when thrown out, started the 
growth of a new variety of balsam-bearing plants, 
a drop of the oil from which was essential to the safe 
and sane baptism of every Christian. At Heliopolis, 
which was once a great city, there is only left to mark 
its site one granite obelisk about sixty-five or seventy 
feet high. Going and coming back from Heliopolis 
we passed the palace of the Khedive of Egypt, sur- 
rounded by beautiful gardens and enclosed by a high 
wall. 

This afternoon we visited the Egyptian Museum, 
where are collected a vast mass of the exhumed antiq- 
uities from all parts of Egypt. Our Mr. Dunning 
pointed out and explained many of the most ancient 
and remarkable exhibits, but the fact that the old 
edition of catalogues was exhausted and no new ones 
were yet ready for distribution or sale rendered it 
impossible to make a detailed study of the exhibits, 
even had one the time and inclination. But the col- 
lection gives a wonderful insight into the religious 
superstitions, the arts, architecture, mechanical skill, 
instruments of labor, burial customs and habits of life 
of the world's oldest civiHzation. 

March 12. — Sick all day with an attack of ptomaine 
poisoning. Our party was joined here by Prof. M. R. 
Sandford, of Middlebury, Vermont ; Dr. H. T. Webster 
and wife, of Oakland, Cal., and Mr. L. Lodge, wife and 
daughter, of Long Beach, Cal. 



56 

March 13. — Our section of the party spent the 
morning about the hotel or shopping as we pleased. 
In the afternooii we took carriages for a drive to the 
various mosques. Our drive carried us through the 
"Suk" or what is commonly called by Europeans, 
the Bazaar. For miles the narrow streets are lined 
on both sides with small shops and stores containing 
all kinds of oriental goods and wares, and natives are 
seen engaged in the manufacture and repair of every 
known article that enters into their daily use, either 
for food, clothing or luxurious adornment. Every 
niche in the wall from five to twenty-five feet square 
constitutes a separate store or shop, and together with 
the street itself, is literally teeming with people. 
Children of all ages and colors except white, some 
clothed in nature's smooth and shiny garments, and 
others in a long flowing night-shirt, generally of a uni- 
form color of blue or black, fill the streets, and in a 
smiling, good natured way hold out their hands for 
backsheesh, but manifesting no sign of disappoint- 
ment at not receiving it. The bazaar of Cairo is a 
repetition of those we have seen at smaller towns up 
the Nile, except that its vastness of extent is multi- 
plied many times as compared with them. Emerging 
from the bazaar, en route, we passed the site of old 
Cairo, now nothing but an immense pile of dirt liter- 
ally filled with small pieces of ancient and broken pot- 
tery. We visited during the afternoon five small 
mosques of more or less interesting character. The 
mosque of Amur, which is the oldest in the city, is now 
used only for sight-seeing purposes. It is a stone 
building, built of stones taken from the Pyramids — 
around a large exterior court, faced with columns 
originally over three hundred in number. It is now 



57 

nothing more than a picturesque, well-worn ruin. 
The mosque Al-Aghar is about a thousand years old 
and in its present use constitutes one of the most 
interesting and instructive sights of Cairo. It is now 
the largest Moslem University in the world and has, 
according to the information of different authorities, 
from Baedeker to our official dragoman, from seven 
thousand to eighteen thousand students. After 
having our heretical feet encased in moslem slippers 
we were permitted to pass the portals, and there, 
seated in groups of from three to a dozen persons, were 
students ranging from boys seven or eight years old 
to men of mature years, all studying aloud and with a 
swaying motion of the body and of the head, com- 
miting to memory lessons from the Koran. All sat 
cross-legged on the hard stone floor. Many of these 
students come from distant portions of the Turkish 
empire and in numerous instances are too poor to have 
separate lodgings, and so live altogether in the build- 
ing. Each one of these is furnished with a small 
cupboard, about two feet square, within which he 
keeps his food and all other earthly possessions. 

The earnestness and zeal with which these ragged 
and poverty' stricken people devote themselves to 
their lessons — if voluntary — is in the highest degree 
commendable, but I was unable to ascertain how 
much this seeming zeal was promoted by a fear of 
corporal or other punishment in case of failure to 
master their lessons. 

The mosque of Mohammed Ali, which is within the 
citadel, is the most modern of the mosques and con- 
tains his tomb in one corner. Its dome is more than 
one hundred feet high and is lighted through some of 
the most exquisitely beautiful stained glass windows 



58 

my eyes have ever beheld. The floor is covered with 
a rich and beautiful oriental carpet, made to fit the 
circular space of more than a quarter of an acre. The 
citadel or mosque of Saladdin was the last one we 
visited and was in its general purpose intended to be 
the strongest part of the fortifications of Cairo. 
From its ramparts, now manned by English soldiers 
and defended by English cannon, we obtained a beau- 
tiful view of the entire city of Cairo and saw the sun 
go down amidst a bank of clouds followed by the 
usual rainbow afterglow. 

March I4 and 15. — Remained at the hotel sick. 

March 16. — Went for drive again through the 
bazaar and visited several additional mosques, also 
the palace now on the site of the palace of the Phar- 
aohs whose daughter discovered and rescued the 
infant Moses out of the basket in which he was hidden 
amidst the bullrushes bordering the Nile. We saw 
the tree on the bank of the river at the spot where he 
was found, but the bullrushes have been pulled up. 
We also visited the Coptic convent, being the oldest 
Christian church in the world, dating from the first 
century, and the place where Joseph and Mary and 
the child Jesus remained in hiding while in Egypt, is 
shown with a full guarantee of genuineness. After 
returning to the hotel we took the tram-cars to the 
river, crossed on a steam launch and had lunch at the 
Ghezireh Palace Hotel. 

Our tour through Egypt is ended. To-morrow we 
leave for Port Said and Palestine. Historically and 
physically Egypt appeals to the wonder and the 
imagination. The earliest cradle of the world's civi- 



59 

lization, for centuries the home of the arts and sciences, 
its architectural genius fully proven by the massive 
and battered remnants that multiplied centuries of 
disintegration and the vandal hands of barbarous 
men have failed to entirely destroy, it stands to-day 
outside the very frontier of progress, handicapped 
by ignorance, superstition and Mohammedan domi- 
nation. Physically, beyond the reach of the fertilizing 
waters of its historic river, the country is a barren 
desert of sand and desolation. Within the narrow 
margin of the Nile's distribution, a fecundity sur- 
passed nowhere in the known world prevails, and yet 
the methods and instruments of cultivation and 
development have in most respects remained un- 
changed since the biblical days when the brothers of 
Joseph sold him into Egyptian bondage. Under 
present English paternal direction and suggestion, 
however, when the system of dams, reservoirs and 
canals for the harnessing, conservation and distribu- 
tion of the surplus waters is completed, the area of 
productivity will have been greatly enlarged and 
modern methods and appliances for the better and 
more economical utilization of such waters will be 
brought to the service and benefit of the agricultural 
population. The Nile, to whose agency Egypt is 
indebted for all that she is or ever has been, has its 
birth in the lakes of tropical Africa some three degrees 
south of the equator, and is among the very longest 
of the world's rivers, though much inferior in volume 
to many others. Its course has been interrupted at 
six different points by difficulties of erosion through 
the Nubian sandstone, and these interruptions are 
known as cataracts, the last of which occurs at Ele- 
phantine island near Assouan. Below this island 



60 

some distance the geologic formation changes to a 
soft and friable white limestone, almost as beautiful as 
marble, which afforded less resistance to the erosive 
power of the stream, and thereafter the Nile has a 
clear journey to the Mediterranean through the sands 
of the eastern Sahara. With a current averaging 
three miles an hour and at no place more than eleven 
hundred yards in width, it flows through a valley or 
bottom ranging from ten to thirty miles in width for 
a distance of seven hundred and fifty miles, which 
valley constitutes all of Egypt that is available for 
the production of the things necessary for the con- 
tinued existence of human life. All else beyond the 
cliffs on each side of the Nile was and is a barren and 
sandy desert. Not over ten or twelve thousand 
square miles of all its area of four hundred thousand 
is capable of cultivation, but the richness and pro- 
ductivity of its soil, constantly renewed by the 
annual overflow of the great river, renders possible 
the raising of crops sufficiently bountiful to maintain 
a population of nearly ten millions of people, a dens- 
ity almost, if not quite, unknown anywhere else on the 
earth's surface. So sharply defined is the line of 
demarcation between the habitable and the desert 
areas that one may stand with one foot in the verdure 
of the valley and the other in the desert sand. The 
Egyptian's world was only a deep and narrow valley 
of unparalleled fertility winding between lifeless 
deserts. As seen from a height it resembles a great 
yellow blanket, with two narrow green stripes run- 
ning down the center of its entire length, between 
which lies a meandering thread of burnished silver in 
the glaring sunlight. When the American traveler, 
setting forth from a country with less than three 



61 

centuries of history behind him, sets foot in Egypt, 
he is brought face to face with scarcely anything that 
was not ancient when the Christian era was in its 
early childhood. Customs, types of men, hiero- 
glyphics, mummies, rolls of papyrus, temples, tombs 
and pyramids, all call to him from an unknown num- 
ber of remote centuries through which has coursed 
the life-blood of all human history. 

March 17. — Left Cairo for Port Said by rail. 
Had a beautiful ride for the first half of the distance 
through intensively cultivated fields of grain, sugar- 
cane, alfalfa, etc., being through some of the richest 
portions of the Nile delta. After turning east the 
country became a desert waste of sand. We soon 
arrived at the Suez Canal and for an hour or two fol- 
lowed its banks. Almost every few hundred yards 
could be seen a great dredge busily hfting or pump- 
ing out the sands of the desert, which seem to drift and 
slide into the bed of the canal, and without constant 
and costly work would soon render it unnavigable. 
Several ocean steamers were passing enroute to the 
East Indies. Reached Port Said about the middle 
of the afternoon and after a drive about town took 
the steamer Tewfikia for Jaffa. Our vessel was sur- 
rounded by a frenzied mob of natives in their boats, 
and nothing seemed to exhaust their vocal powers 
nor to diminish their determination to obtain back- 
sheesh. The boat was overcrowded with passengers, 
many of whom were forced to sleep in the cabin. 

March 18. — Reached Jaffa after a comparatively 
quiet and comfortable night at 6.30 a. m. This is a 
much dreaded landing place in stormy weather, but 
much to our gratification there was no wind blowing, 



62 

and the sea was perfectly calm. Immediately after 
breakfast we landed amidst another pandemonium 
of howling and begging natives. We were driven 
direct to the hotel and after lunch took a drive 
through the town and its surroundings. Passing 
over a road flanked on both sides by extensive orange 
groves we ascended a long hill to visit the house of 
Simon, the Tanner, where, according to scripture, 
Jesus "tarried many days." From thence we visited 
the Russian or Greek church, where, in the church- 
yard is the rock tomb of Tabitha, whom Christ 
raised from the dead. Returning to the Park Hotel, 
which by the way is the only familiar name we have 
encountered since leaving home — we assembled our 
luggage and drove to the depot, where we took a 
narrow gauge train for Jerusalem, arriving at the 
Fast Hotel after a ride of three and one-half hours. 
The ride from Jaffa to Jerusalem leads you first 
through beautiful orange groves and later through 
the fertile and highly cultivated plain of Sharon, the 
fields showing heavy crops of grain, and the roadsides 
bordered with many varieties of beautiful wild 
flowers. Gradually, as the train climbs the grade, the 
physical character of the country changes and at a 
distance of thirty miles from Jaffa the country 
becomes gradually more and more rocky and deso- 
late, until Jerusalem is reached. En route we passed 
near the town of Zorah, the supposed birthplace of 
Samson. 

March 19. — The Jerusalem of to-day consists prac- 
tically of several towns. The ancient city is still 
confined within its massive stone walls. Outside the 
walls a modern town has sprung up and is growing 



63 

rapidly. Our hotel is in the modern city. Following 
a comfortable night's rest we started out in the morn- 
ing for a tour of the places of interest. Passing 
through the Damascus gate we followed through the 
winding passages called streets until we reached the 
spot where Jesus is said to have taken up the cross, 
and then followed each step of his progress toward 
the crucifixion, all of which is given in full detail in 
the guide books and need not be reiterated here. 
The alleged tomb of the Saviour, the mosque of Omar 
and various other points of historical interest were 
visited, occupying the full day. The street scenes 
in Jerusalem are to me the most interesting sights of 
the city. Every nationality, every costume, and 
every degree of prosperity or of abject poverty greet 
the eye at every step. The full-blooded Turk with 
his swagger of authority ; the fierce and gloomy look- 
ing Bedouin with his ragged but picturesque costume; 
the persecuted and downcast Jew still holding to his 
penchant for grabbing the almighty dollar; the alert 
and vociferous Arab; the "holier than thou" Arme- 
nian with his hypocritical and revolutionary cant; 
the jet black, thick-lipped and brawny Nubian 
with his white turban; the blufT and domineering 
Englishman; the sociable and chatty German; the 
dressy and excessively polite Frenchman, and the 
sight-seeing American tourist are types to be met 
with almost any time within a block's walk. The 
passing show also includes long trains of camels and 
donkeys laden with all kinds of merchandise as well 
as with an odor that knocks the props from under 
limburger cheese or asafoetida as leaders in first 
class perfumes. Down in the narrow, crooked streets 
of the old town a veritable multitude of dirty, scabby 



64 

and leprous looking people infest every nook and 
corner, and an infinity of ragged children persistently 
follow you with a cry for backsheesh, and every 
woman you meet has at least one baby astride her 
neck and another almost ready to get there. The 
whole atmosphere and surroundings seem infested 
with a rabbit-like fecundity. If it were not that 
seventy per cent of the children die in infancy, the 
city would soon become a writhing, crawling mass of 
human worms, embedded and stuck together with 
their own filth. And this is the holy, sacred and 
glorious city of Jerusalem toward which the truly 
pious pilgrims of the world turn their longing steps, 
and upon which they feast their eager and fanatic 
eyes. From battle, murder and from modern Jerusa- 
lem, ''good Lord deliver us." 

March 20. — This morning we took carriages for a 
trip to Jericho, the River Jordan and the Dead Sea. 
The road led us around the outside walls of old Jeru- 
salem with a gradual climb to the top of the ridge for 
a mile or more, whence the road led off through the 
country on a descending scale all the way to Jericho. 
The topography of the country was a complete sur- 
prise and scenically was beautiful and varied. It was 
a continuing succession of lofty hills, seamed and 
scarred and gashed with deep and narrow canons. 
The first half of the distance the hillsides were cov- 
ered with a spring growth of grass and flowers, many 
of the latter being of beautiful shades, and most 
numerous among them was a small blood-red poppy. 
The latter half of the distance the hillsides were as 
yellow and barren as a Nevada desert. In one of 
the deepest and wildest canons the cave was pointed 
out to us where Elijah was fed by the ravens. 



65 

The road down the mountains winds and twists hke 
a mammoth snake, and at almost every turn we met 
trains of donkeys and camels loaded to their utmost 
capacity with sacks of charcoal on the way from the 
mountains of Moab, beyond the River Jordan, to the 
treeless market of Jerusalem. The drivers of these 
animals were in almost every instance pinched, 
emaciated, half-starved creatures, with devilish hope- 
lessness of expression and in the matter of raiment 
were simply animated rag-bags. If these are samples 
of what two thousand years of religion of one brand 
or another has done in the way of material and moral 
uplift for a people, then religion has been anything 
but an unmixed blessing to them. Superstition in 
its most hideous and revolting phases, fed, nurtured 
and dominated by a fanatical priesthood, controls 
their every action and movement. In the midst of a 
horde of pilgrims, whose religious enthusiasm prompts 
them to come thousands of miles on foot to pay their 
devotions at the tomb of Jesus, we are warned by 
our party director and guides to beware of having 
our pockets picked by the most expert thieves in the 
world. 

In the latter half of the journey we follow for a 
long distance a very deep and precipitous canon, at 
the bottom of which is a running stream which emp- 
ties into the Jordan near Jericho, and which is sup- 
posed by some to be the biblical brook of Cherith. 
On the left hand side of the canon, in an almost inac- 
cessible spot, a large stone monastery has been 
erected which is said by Baedeker to be a kind of 
penitentiary for Greek priests. About three-quarters 
of an hour before reaching Jericho, as we rounded the 
corner of a high cliff, we came in sight of the broad 
1677—5 



66 

valley, the city of Jericho itself, and of the winding 
silver thread of the River Jordan, and still beyond to 
the right, the broad expanse of the Dead Sea, forty- 
seven miles long, seven to ten miles wide and nearly 
thirteen hundred feet below the level of the ocean. 
We drove on through the present village of Jericho, 
about a mile to the site of ancient Jericho, where 
some recent excavations have exposed to view a few 
old walls of no particular interest. Returning we 
passed the pool or fountain of Ehsha, which tradi- 
tion says is the water he healed with salt. The basin 
of the spring is surrounded by a stone wall and forms 
a pool some thirty or forty feet square, and five or six 
feet deep. Continuing our ride we returned to mod- 
ern Jericho, and put up for the night at the Belle view 
Hotel. The food was vile, the flies swarmed around 
the victuals as persistently and viciously as a hive of 
bees, and the beds were as lumpy and uneven as 
though, when they put the feathers in, they forgot 
to take the chickens out. 

March 21. — After breakfast we entered the car- 
riages and drove over a plain of desolation for about 
an hour, when we reached the Jordan River, a swift 
flowing, muddy stream, some sixty to eighty feet 
wide at this point, where boats were taken for a 
short ride up stream to see the place where Joshua 
and the Israelites are supposed to have crossed on 
their way to take Jericho. The banks of the stream 
are lined with willows, tamarisks and a variety of 
poplar somewhat resembling our Carolina poplar. 
From the Jordan, we continued our ride for another 
hour to the Dead Sea. The waters of the sea are clear 
and of a greenish cast. They contain twenty-six per 



67 

cent of solid matter, though only seven per cent of 
this is common salt. There is a strong, bitter taste 
to the water, complicated with a peculiar sweetish 
after taste. The beach is composed entirely of small 
pebbles, from the tiniest size to one-half pound in 
weight, but there is a total absence of sand. A large 
proportion of the stones are flint. A number of the 
ladies in our party trailed down the beach to the 
left, a distance sufficient to meet the proprieties of 
the occasion, while the men indulged in a similar 
"hike" to the right, and all enjoyed the novelty of a 
bath in the buoyant waters. Returning to the hotel 
by a different route, we ate lunch, rested for an hour 
and started on the return trip to Jerusalem. At this 
hour the sun was blistering hot and when we reached 
the steep hill about two miles from town, every one 
was ordered to alight from the carriages and walk up 
the hill. It was a strenuous climb and we reached 
the summit reeking with perspiration. Soon after 
taking the carriages again, it began to cloud up and 
a cool wind arose which rapidly increased in strength 
and chilliness until we became very uncomfortable. 
To add to our discomfort an axle broke on one of the 
carriages, and the people occupying it were distributed 
among the other vehicles, and we were detained so 
long while the drivers rigged up a false axle that we 
did not reach Jerusalem until long after dark. His- 
toric and holy spots are as numerous in Jerusalem as 
are the flies in Jericho, and the Arab guides for a little 
backsheesh will lead you to them with all the posi- 
tiveness and assurance of a contemporary participant. 
A preconceived belief and an all dominating faith 
are required for the acceptance of these assurances. 
Ag the city has been destroyed and rebuilt several 



68 

times, each time on top of the ruins and debris of its 
predecessor, the confusion and uncertainty concern- 
ing the exact location of historic spots and events can 
be readily seen. The Holy Sepulchre, now within 
the walls of a Mohammedan mosque, was sought to 
be identified more than three hundred years after 
Christ, by the mother of the great Christian Emperor, 
Constantine, who caused a beautiful church to be 
erected over it. This church was, however, destroyed 
and some seven hundred years after its erection 
another was built, supposedly in the same place, by 
the fanatical Crusaders. Under the dome or canopy 
of the sepulchre is a fragment of the stone which was 
said to have been rolled away on the morning of the 
resurrection. In an adjacent chapel at a slight ele- 
vation is the alleged summit of the Mount of Calvary, 
but a close inspection raises a question of doubt as to 
whether this rocky eminence is composed of natural 
or artificial stone. 

March 22. — Not feeling well I remained in the 
hotel all day. Hearing an unusual sound on the 
street I stepped to the window and looking out beheld 
a procession of about a thousand Russian pilgrims 
just arriving to pay their devotions to the Holy 
Sepulchre. They were headed by several priests 
and were chanting a religious song of some sort. 
The sight was picturesque, but pitiful. Men and 
women, many of them heavily weighted with years, 
clad in almost every conceivable style of garment, 
faded in color and ragged in condition, some entirely 
barefooted, others with their feet protruding through 
their wrecked brogans, were dragging their weary 
bodies slowly along. Not a happy or satisfied coun- 



69 

tenance, but on the contrary faces full of heaviness 
of heart, drudgery, privation and physical suffering 
characterized every one. Not even a trace of fan- 
atical ecstacy was visible. They were simply a body 
of dirty, ragged and stolid human animals. It is 
approaching Easter, and it is said that during that 
season more than one hundred thousand of these poor 
misguided creatures make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, 
many of them coming more than a thousand miles 
on foot. The Holy City is the lode-stone for all creeds, 
sects and crank inspired conceptions of rehgious 
faith. The poorest and most fanatical Jews are here 
in thousands, and on Friday afternoons may be seen 
in swarms by the wall, wailing out their imaginary 
griefs over the fact that the site of the old temple is in 
the hands of the Gentiles. Equally fanatical Mos- 
lems abound, for to them Jerusalem possesses a 
sacredness second only to that of Mecca. Monks 
and nuns by the hundreds are here in the interests 
of and in the propaganda of the Roman Catholic 
faith — Franciscans, Dominicans, Assumptionists and 
the Lord only knows how many sisterhoods are repre- 
sented in their longing to be near the Holy Sepulchre. 
All branches of eastern Catholics, including Greeks, 
Russians, Armenians, Syrians and Copts have their 
churches, monasteries and minor places of worship. 
Protestants of various sects are scattered through 
the unleavened mass. Here is a bunch whose abiding 
faith compels them to await here the second coming 
of Christ in the hope of securing a reserved seat. 
A colony is also here whose leader represents in him- 
self the reincarnation of Elijah, and a deluded but 
patient and persistent Englishwoman has been wait- 
ing for many years to give Christ a cup of tea when 



70 

he comes again. Such is the religious muddle and 
confusion that pervades the Holy City. 

We left Jerusalem at 5 p. m., after bidding good- 
bye to the members of Section A of our party — ^v/ho 
up to this time had been with us, and started in 
ambulances, each pulled by three horses, for Ramalleh. 
After a two hours drive through a rough, stony and 
mountainous country we reached Ramalleh in time 
for supper. Near the hotel is located a Quaker, or 
Friends' school in charge of Mr. and Mrs. Rosenberger, 
formerly of Indiana, but more recently of Iowa. 
After supper we were invited to visit the school, where 
they have sixty native girls and forty boys being 
educated. The boys had gone to bed, but the girls 
welcomed us with several songs and recitations in 
English and Arabic. They sang with voices of 
unusual sweetness and harmony. 

March 23. — At 8 a. m. we left Ramalleh over a fine 
government road through a rough, mountainous and 
highly picturesque country, the scenic views chang- 
ing with panorama-like suddenness. The country is 
a continuation of limestone hills and ridges, the stone 
cropping out on the surface and seemingly impossible 
of cultivation, and yet there is terrace upon terrace, 
each bounded by a stone wall enclosing a small patch 
of ground, which has been plowed and sowed to grain or 
planted to olives and figs . The ground is infinitely more 
stony, the soil shallower and more uninviting looking 
than our California foot-hill stock ranges, and yet 
these people eke out a living where our American 
farmer would starve. Along the roadside and side- 
hills are many very old olive trees, the trunks full of 
holes and decay, many of them measuring three to 



71 

four feet in diameter. On inquiry as to why every 
little patch of ground was surrounded by a stone wall 
I was told by Mr. Rosenberger that when a man pur- 
chased a piece of land from the government, if he did 
not immediately inclose and mark its boundaries 
with a stone wall the government would reclaim 
and take possession of it. As our trip continued the 
country became more and more interesting and 
many of the views superb. We passed Shiloh, where 
for more than four hundred years the Tabernacle and 
Ark of the Covenant rested, and where the prophet 
Eli died ; passed the ancient village of Lebonah, and 
descending abruptly, with many snake-like turns 
and twists of the road, we came to Jacob's Well, where 
all the party alighted and walked down a steep hill 
to see it. It is evidently an artificial hole, and so far 
from being a living spring is only a receptacle 
for rain-water. There are numerous natural springs 
in this vicinity, and they naturally raise the query 
why Jacob preferred stale rainwater with its natural 
accompaniment of wigglers to good fresh springwater. 
It was at this well that Jesus had the conversation 
with the Samaritan woman and proclaimed the 
spirituahty of God. The well is surrounded by a 
high stone wall and belongs to the Greek Catholics. 
After leaving here the road turns sharply to the 
west and enters the beautiful and — by comparison 
with the preceding country through which we have 
passed — fertile valley of Shechem, lying between 
Mounts Ebal and Gerizim. Mount Ebal is barren 
and desolate to its very summit, while the lower 
slopes of Gerizim are thickly covered with the 
greenest of verdure and prosperous looking orchards, 
while the uncultivated places are adorned with rich 



72 

and variegated masses of wild flowers. About the 
middle of the afternoon we reached Nablous and 
stopped at a beautiful stone hotel of the same name 
under the same management of the Hotel Fast at 
Jerusalem. Nablous is a city of twenty-four thou- 
sand inhabitants, almost exclusively Moslems, and 
is noted for its numerous soap factories, the olives 
in this section being all made into oil or soap and 
not pickled. It is on the site of ancient Shechem, 
one of the oldest cities of Palestine, and is the first 
city of the Holy Land mentioned in the Bible. It 
was at Shechem, according to the story of the 
Patriarchs, that both Abraham and Jacob came, on 
their entrance into the land of Canaan. Some one 
tells the story of a young woman who was about to 
visit the Holy Land, and who, before her departure, 
called on an old lady friend of pronounced orthodox 
views and told her she hoped soon to see Jerusalem, 
Nazareth and other noted places of biblical history. 
The old lady removed her spectacles and looking up 
with mixed wonder and incredulity ejaculated: "Well 
now! I knew all those places were in the Bible, but 
I never thought of their being on earth." Such as 
they are, however, we are now in the midst of them. 
Agriculture here is still of the most primitive 
character. The plow used is built practically, if not 
exactly, on the same model of the one used three 
thousand years ago. It is so light that the husband- 
man going to the field carries it on his shoulder. 
It has but one handle, upon which the plowman 
presses with his right hand to prevent its jumping 
the furrow. A Palestine plow team is frequently a 
trinity of contrasts, for often it is made up of a 
camel, a donkey and a woman, driven by a full- 



73 

grown, healthy-looking, well-fed man. A landed 
proprietor in Palestine, commonly if not always, 
rents or leases his several holdings on the lottery 
plan. In other words, each recurring year, the appli- 
cants for tenancy are assembled and a small boy is 
utihzed to draw from a bag filled with pebbles, the 
pebbles being marked with numbers corresponding 
to the numbers of the plotted land tracts. Each 
tenant receives a pebble, which indicates the number 
of his tract, and this is the land he must cultivate 
for the ensuing season, regardless of whether his luck 
has landed him upon level plain of strongest fertility 
or upon a sloping hillside thickly interspersed with 
broken fragments of limestone. Eternal vigilance 
seems to be the price of harvesting or preserving the 
husbandman's crop, for every field and vineyard is 
nightly guarded by the proprietor or a hired retainer, 
to stand off the predatory incursions of his neighbor- 
ing countrymen. Nubians of jet black skin and 
fearsome aspect are largely employed for this service. 

March 24- — Left Nablous after breakfast and pro- 
ceeded along the Jaffa carriage road, which is a 
beautiful macadamized highway and winds its way 
like a great yellow serpent over hills and through 
valleys picturesque in the extreme, fringed by small 
fields of grain and frequent olive orchards, most of 
the trees being of immense size and age. Here and 
there we encountered small mixed orchards of peaches, 
apples, pears and pomegranates, but the trees looked 
diseased and mangy. Some five or six miles from 
Nablous we left the carriages and chmbed a long hill 
to the site of ancient Samaria, long the capital of 
the Kingdom of Israel. After its destruction it was 



74 

rebuilt by Herod, who erected a magnificent palace 
and temple, many of the columns of which are still 
standing, though in a sad state of dilapidation. 
From this site a most entrancing view of the sur- 
rounding country is obtained. Descending the hill 
from the other side we came at the foot to an old 
aqueduct and reservoir, the latter of which is 
alleged to be on the site of the pool of Samaria, where 
the blood-stained chariot of Ahab was washed after 
that monarch's violent death. In this connection 
it is well to note that on the hill of Samaria is an old 
church built by the Crusaders, and also one of the 
alleged tombs of John the Baptist, which is reached 
by the descent of twenty-five narrow steps cut in 
the solid rock. After resuming our carriages for a 
couple of miles, we stopped at the village of Silet 
and ate our lunch under the shade of an orchard of 
fig trees. The figs were green and only about one- 
third grown, yet a ragged and scantily dressed native 
woman belonging to a party camped a few yards 
beyond us, ascended one of these trees like a wild 
ourang-outang and proceeded to devour the fruit as 
fast as she could gather it with both hands. It 
would seem as if nothing but long continued fasting 
and nearly approaching starvation could account for 
such appetite and indulgence. Continuing our 
journey through a country of similar character we 
reached the town of Jenin in the latter part of the 
afternoon and stopped for the night. 

March 25. — Left Jenin shortly after breakfast for 
the drive to Nazareth. Soon after leaving we entered 
the beautiful valley of Esdraelon. Foi* three or four 
hours we drove through this level and highly fertile 



75 

plain, encompassed on all sides by beautiful green 
fields of grain, being by far the most extensive area 
of rich and productive soil we have seen since leaving 
Egypt. This plain is said to have been the great 
battlefield of Israel, as recorded in the Bible. As we 
approached the end of the valley the symmetrical 
and rounded form of Mount Tabor came into view. 
Turning north we began to ascend the hillside, but 
owing to the roughness of the road we descended 
from the carriages and walked up the hill for ten or 
fifteen minutes and then resumed our ride. As we 
continued to ascend the view of the valley and the 
country at large became more and more expansive 
and beautiful, until at the summit a picture of scenic 
beauty lay spread before us the equal of which is 
seldom seen in any country. Shortly after reaching 
the summit of the hill we stopped to eat our lunch 
and rest for an hour. Resuming our journey, we 
soon came in sight of Nazareth and arrived at the 
Germania Hotel about the middle of the afternoon. 
After half an hour of rest we visited the Greek Church 
where, underneath, carved out of the solid rock, is the 
supposed work-shop of Joseph, the father of Jesus. 
From there we passed to the Roman Catholic Church 
of the Ascension, built upon the foundation and ruins 
of an old Crusader Church, and witnessed the ser- 
vices and the administering of the sacrament. The 
residence of Joseph and Mary is alleged to be under- 
neath the church. This we failed to see because of 
the anger of the priest at the hesitation of some of the 
party to accede to his demand for one franc each, as 
an admission fee, something our dragoman said had 
never to his knowledge been demanded before. The 
streets of Nazareth are as filthy, and the people are 



76 

as disgustingly dirty and ragged, and the air is per- 
meated with at least as many different odors as Jeru- 
salem. I have a sense of being infested with fleas 
and vermin of various sorts, especially since picking 
a bed-bug from my coat sleeve last evening. Oh, 
for a good room with bath once more at a good Ameri- 
can hotel, with a good square, wholesome American 
meal! Nothing short of Paradise would furnish 
compensation for leaving it. When one sees these 
poor, impoverished wretches, with scarcely any 
clothes to wear, and stunted and emaciated from 
perennial starvation, and then looks upon these fat, 
wholesome, well-groomed and sensual looking priests, 
who are absorbing the people's slender earnings in the 
name of Christianity, and under fear of their eternal 
damnation, one is impelled to cry shame upon the 
whole rotten system of robbery and deceit. The 
whole of Palestine is cursed and robbed by a set of 
so-called rehgious brigands of sundry Christian and 
Mohammedan sects, who play upon the ignorance 
and pitiful fears of an impoverished and degenerate 
people. 

Jesus spent his early life at Nazareth, and here are 
shown many so-called sacred places. There is a 
living spring, where, as of old, the women still bring 
their earthen pitchers or jars to be filled. 

March 26. — Resumed our journey this morning for 
Tiberias, on the lake or Sea of Galilee. Passed 
through a country similar to that of yesterday, except 
that it became gradually more stony and barren. 
Shortly after leaving, we passed Mary's well, which 
is now used as a general washing place for clothes by 
the surrounding natives. Here is also a French 



77 

hospital and a Russian mission. On reaching the 
crest of the hill overhanging Nazareth there is opened 
to the eye a beautiful and expansive view of the sur- 
rounding country. Mount Hermon, the only snow- 
capped peak in Palestine, now looms up in the dis- 
tance and as we began to descend rapidly into the 
valley, and after stopping on the way to eat our lunch, 
we again climbed a high hill from which we could see 
the deep depression where "the blue waves roll 
nightly o'er deep Galilee." Descending rapidly a 
long hill by a tortuous, serpentine road, we reached 
Tiberias in mid-afternoon, snuggling closely to the 
bank of the lake. Half an hour after our arrival we 
procured boats and were rowed for two hours to 
Capernaeum, at the head of the lake, where the ruins 
of an old Roman temple and a present Catholic 
Church were inspected. Returning, we sailed back 
with a stiff breeze, had our dinner, and at night 
attended a native theater or dance house. 

March 27. — We were called at 5 a. m., had breakfast 
and left at 6 o'clock in sail boats on the Sea of Tiberias 
for Semakh the railroad station at the foot of the 
sea where we took the cars for Damascus. The 
railroad follows up the valley or canon of Yarmuk 
River, amidst scenery that is rarely excelled in pic- 
turesqueness and often rises to the dignity of grand- 
eur. This continues for the first three or four hours 
of the trip. At* one point as we ascended the grade 
a very high wall of rock arose several hundred feet 
above us, and pouring over the topmost cliff there 
came dashing down a most beautiful waterfall. 
Wild flowers of the most brilliant and variegated 
colors strewed the roadside and fields as we went 



78 

along, and notwithstanding the cramped and uncom- 
fortably filled compartment on the cars, we found the 
ride one of great enjoyment. Emerging from the 
canon, we entered upon the broad and uninteresting 
plain of Hauran, with a red soil very inuch resem- 
bling that of our Cahfornia foot-hills. It is largely 
sown to grain, but looked as if six to eight bushels 
per acre would be all the crop that could be expected. 
Shortly after entering the plain of Hauran, we had a 
full but distant view of snow-capped Mount Hermon. 
We reached Damascus — after a fine lunch at the vil- 
lage of Dara — about dark and were driven to the 
Damascus Palace Hotel, where we found a comfor- 
table sitting-room and a fire for the first time since 
leaving the Laconia. 

March 28. — After breakfast we entered carriages 
for a drive about the city. We wound our way 
through narrow, crooked and dirty streets, lined with 
bazaars or shops of all kinds, similar in many respects, 
but not nearly so attractive as those of Cairo. 
Alighting from the carriages, we entered the brass- 
workers' shops, where seven hundred boys and men 
are employed in decorating brass vessels of every 
description. The sight is one of the most unique 
and impressive character. A large proportion of the 
workers were children ranging from six to twelve 
years of age, and the skill and rapidity with which 
they handled their tools and the beauty of the 
designs they executed upon the plain brass vessels 
were little less than marvelous. They are paid one 
franc per day for ten hours' work. Here also they 
make the finest carved woodwork inlaid with mother- 
of-pearl, etc. 



79 

From here we again took the carriages, visited the 
house of Annanias, the Christian disciple who healed 
Saul of his blindness, passed the mosque of the Omei- 
yades and the tomb of Saladin, and ascended the hill 
overlooking the city, from whence there is a broad 
and most beautiful view of the entire city and the 
surrounding plain. 

One of the chief glories of Damascus is the River 
Abana or Barada, which rises in the mountains forty 
or fifty miles northwest of the city and flows in a 
rushing stream right through the heart of the city, 
furnishing an abundant and perennial supply of 
cold mountain water. The River Parphar, although 
not flowing through the city, passes only a few miles 
outside the walls and furnishes a copious supply of 
water for the irrigation of the fruitful and beautiful 
plain that stretches for miles around the city. Dogs 
are maintained here as scavengers. There being no 
sewers, the slops and refuse are cast into the street, 
and these otherwise unfed canines fight and snarl 
and yell in the strenuous struggle that ensues for the 
possession of the titbits. Likewise, there is much 
less begging and demand for backsheesh here than 
at any point we have visited since our first landing at 
Funchal. The waters of the River Barada are the 
object of an unmeasured pride on the part of the 
natives. They are commonly vested in the minds of 
these superstitious and credulous people with mar- 
velous curative functions, especially in the case of 
preventing, if not absolutely curing, leprosy. It is 
little wonder that Naiman, the leper of biblical fame, 
felt a sense of personal injury when informed that 
he must make a long journey and dip himself seven 
times in the Jordan, when there was such a superior 



80 

stream within his immediate reach. Within the city- 
limits the water is conducted in underground channels 
or pipes to nearly, if not quite, every house, really 
leaving no excuse except that of personal inclination 
for the dirt and filth that characterize every house- 
hold within and without. 

March 29. — Left Damascus by rail about 8 o'clock. 
It had rained the night before and still showed symp- 
toms of being showery. For the first few miles we 
passed through the highly cultivated fields and 
orchards of the plain of Damascus, then gradually 
entered the canon of the Barada and arose rapidly 
through the wildest and most picturesque scenery 
to a height of forty-five hundred feet at Zerghaya. 
Along the first two-thirds of the thirty-six miles the 
narrow valley and hillsides are lined with mulberry 
and apple orchards and vineyards, the vines growing 
apparently out of thickly broken rock and being 
trained to lie flat along the ground. After reaching 
the summit, we descended at a heavy grade to the 
station of Rayak, where passengers change cars for 
Baalbek. Mrs. R. had been suffering with a severe 
cold that caused apprehension of pneumonia, and as 
the weather had become cold and threatening we 
decided to continue on to Bayrouth, while the 
remainder of the party visited Baalbek. Ascending 
rapidly from Rayak, amidst the most rugged and 
beautiful scenery, we reached the summit of the ridge 
at Ral-el-Baidar, nearly forty-nine hundred feet above 
sea level, amidst as fierce a snow storm as you would 
see in the high Sierras. Descending again at an 
almost breath-taking pace, the snow soon turned to 
rain, and little cascades came shooting over the high 



81 

limestone bluffs into the valley below, like silver 
threads running through the golden or carmine warp 
and woof of nature's beautiful oriental rug. We 
continued to descend on an average grade of over two 
hundred feet per mile for twenty miles to Bayrouth, 
which we reached the latter part of the afternoon. 
The scenery throughout the entire distance is wildly 
picturesque, and as we approached our destination 
we came into a view of the Mediterranean Sea and 
the modern city of Bayrouth, beautifully esconced 
at the foot of the hill and stretching along its rocky 
beach for a mile or more. Arriving, we took a car- 
riage for the Deutscher-Hof Hotel , where a fine room 
was assigned us on the first floor, and where we found 
at dinner the first meat or other food that had a 
natural taste since leaving the Laconia. After dinner 
I strolled around the streets sight-seeing, but found 
the bazaars nothing to compare with those we have 
seen in other cities. The remainder of the party 
arrived about midnight, having visited Baalbek. 
Looking eastward from the sea-shore, Bayrouth is con- 
fronted with an amphitheater of mountains, clothed 
in a garment of bright and varied colors, shading 
from the light green of the grassy meadow in the 
immediate foreground to the dark bluish green of the 
gnarled and rugged pines at the summit. 

Crags and cliffs of dull gray, lively yellow and 
screaming red fill the eye with their variety, garnished 
as they are by lofty towers and gloomy monasteries, 
whose forbidding portals are reminiscent of days 
long past. Midway between the valley and the 
summit, thickly dotting the lower hillsides, are the 
white and shining walls of numerous villas, each 
surrounded by a tiny garden and filled here and there 

1677 — 6 



82 

with an olive, an apricot and a peach tree, com- 
panioned by a few cHmbing vines, gorgeous in their 
blossoms of deep purple, scarlet and yellow. The 
houses of the city are painted in bright, oriental taste, 
with red-tiled roofs and green shutters, and at a dis- 
tance the whole landscape presents a bright and fasc- 
inating appearance. But like all other oriental cities, 
close inspection dissolves the spell and dissipates the 
glamour. The streets are narrow, the houses and 
shops infectious with filth and dirt, and the odors 
bear no resemblance to sweet myrrh and frankincense. 
A stream which enters the sea near the upper end of 
the city fringes the reputed site of the famous 
encounter between St. George and the dragon, in 
which, if I have the legend straight, he rescued a 
Syrian princess, and if you have any doubt on the 
subject, the well is still there, where he washed his 
hands after finishing the job. 

Here ends our journey through Palestine. While 
it has been in some respects fatiguing, it has been 
full of interest and novelty, if such a word can be 
used as descriptive of a civilization and customs 
hoary with antiquity. The seasons in Palestine 
correspond closely with those in California. 
Toward the end of October heavy rains begin to fall 
at intervals, for a day or several days at a time, fol- 
lowing which the farmer begins his plowing. The 
rains increase in volume and frequency during 
December, January and February, and then gradu- 
ally decrease, practically ending in April. During 
the winter snow and hail frequently fall on the hills, 
but rarely in the valleys. Their summer winds are 
the reverse of those in California, the south wind 
being the hot wind, and the cool breezes coming from 



83 

the north. They have, however, at times an east 
wind called sherkiyeh or sirocco. It comes from 
the desert with a mist of fine sand, veiling the sun, 
scorching vegetation and carrying malaria and fever 
with its pestilential breath. Frequent droughts occur, 
sometimes lasting for two years, and causing wide- 
spread famine and pestilence, and the all-destroying 
locusts fill the air every fifth or sixth year. Add to 
this the frequent recurrence of earthquakes, and there 
seems no controlling reason why even an American 
Jew should be filled with an insatiable desire to 
migrate to the Holy Land. There is no turf in Pales- 
tine and very little grass that lasts through the sum- 
mer drought. After the fall rains begin, the fields and 
roadsides spring thick with grasses and wild grains, 
clover, lupins, many succulent plants, lilies, anemones 
and hosts of other wild flowers, chief among which is 
a species of blood-red poppy, which in its abundance 
and attractive beauty rivals our California esch- 
scholtzia. 

In Palestine there is every climate from the sub- 
tropical of the lower end of the Jordan valley to the 
sub-Alpine of the other end. There are palms in 
Jericho and pine forests in Lebanon. In the depres- 
sion or valley of the lower Jordan the summer tem- 
perature climbs far above the hundred mark, and 
yet, looking to the northwest, the snowclad fields 
of Mount Hermon are visible. All the intermediate 
temperatures between these extremes are within the 
limits of human vision from the summit of Mount 
Carmel; the sands and palms of the coast, the broad 
wheat fields of Esdraelon, the oaks and sycamores of 
Galilee, the pines, the peaks and the snows of anti- 
Lebanon. The elevations and depressions range 



from nine thousand feet above sea level to thirteen 
hundred feet below. Early writers describe large 
forests as covering considerable portions of the coun- 
try, but if they ever existed they have long since dis- 
appeared in that section of the country west of the 
Jordan. Fruit trees of all varieties common to the 
temperate zone ought to flourish here, but, so far as 
general cultivation goes, the olive and the vine take 
precedence of all others. A few apricot, fig, and now 
and then a peach are to be seen along the roadside. 
Palestine may be said to be a land of ruins. No part 
of the earth's surface has been scourged more fre- 
quently or more disastrously by the contending forces 
of hostile armies. Ravaged and plundered through- 
out the centuries by Egyptians, Persians, Mace- 
donians, Saracens, Moslems and crusading Christians, 
each of whom outvied the other in devihsh destruc- 
tiveness, there is but little left antedating the Chris- 
tian era tending to show the character or the achieve- 
ments of its earlier civilization. In fact, the ruins of 
the multitude of fortresses and churches built later 
by the crusaders are practically all that is left, and 
they are in such a state of utter demolition and dis- 
integration as to possess little interest to the traveler. 
Josephus and other early historians compel us to 
believe that the country was far more thickly popu- 
lated than it is to-day, but if that is true, the com- 
paratively small area of fertility must have been 
more intensively cultivated; the system of irrigation 
must have been more widely and ingeniously extended, 
and even the stony and barren hillsides must have 
been touched with the miracle of productivity to 
have furnished subsistence for so numerous a people. 
Palestine is hkewise a land of legends and these 



85 

legends have been invented and multiplied to meet 
the longings of the credulous and superstitious visitor. 
There is no holy place, no spot made sacred by the 
feet of the Saviour, that is not pointed out to you by 
these modern Arab guides with all the definiteness 
and assurance of a well established fact: the house 
of the holy family at Nazareth; the holy sepulchre at 
Jerusalem; the spot where stood the angel Gabriel 
at the annunciation; the three several spots where 
three several times John the Baptist was beheaded ; the 
house of Jericho, where the spies of Joshua lodged; 
the house of Simon the Tanner; the steep place where 
the bedeviled herd of swine ran violently down into 
the sea and perished in its waters, and so on, ad 
infinitum, are all to be seen if one is willing to pay 
the price for being humbugged. 



March 30. — After an early stroll along the beach 
had breakfast and entered carriages for the boat. 
On our way from the landing to the ship we passed 
close by the sunken wreck of the Turkish gun 
boat that was put out of commission about three 
weeks ago by the Italian fleet in its attack upon Bay- 
reuth. From time immemorial I have read and 
heard of the phenomenally blue waters of the Mediter- 
ranean Sea, especially in the Bay of Naples, but until 
leaving Bayreuth this morning I have seen nothing 
in the color of the water that seemed to justify the 
extravagant descriptions. But as we steamed out of 
the harbor of Bayreuth, the water was a deep indigo 
blue. The weather is mild and pleasant, very little 
wind, and the water smooth. About 10 p. m. we 
passed close to the island of Cyprus. 



86 

March SI. — A bright and beautiful morning — a 
smooth sea and no land in sight. Our vessel — 
the Saghalien — is a pigmy compared with the La- 
conia, has few conveniences and no luxuries. In 
case of stormy weather the only place of retreat 
would be our small and inconvenient state-rooms, 
with the option of standing up or going to bed. 
Just before dark we entered the harbor of Rhodes, 
where according to Herodotus and sundry other 
ancient historians, once stood the Colossus, classed 
as one of the seven wonders of the world. The fate 
of the Colossus is shrouded in mystery, and no rem- 
nants of him have been produced to prove his actual 
existence. The city of Rhodes presents a pleasing 
appearance from the vessel, many of the houses being 
of modern construction. In fact, the only evidence 
of antiquity manifest from a distance consists in por- 
tions of the old stone wall and fortifications that once 
surrounded the city. After unloading and taking on 
some freight we again proceeded on our way. 

April 1. — We have been running all day amidst the 
Greek archipelago, with numerous islands on either 
side of us, most of them bold and rocky, with scattered 
patches of land under cultivation, and here and there 
a grove of olive trees. Small villages of one-story 
houses invade the landscape at intervals, but as a 
whole the islands seem sparsely populated. The 
scenic effect as we glide past, with the blue waters of 
the Mediterranean beneath as calm and peaceful as 
the blue heavens above, is charming and impressive. 
Shortly after passing the island of Chios, much cele- 
brated in the Odes of Horace for its wine, we turned 
sharply to the east and entered the Gulf of Smyrna, 



87 

where the water changes in color from blue to green, 
and an hour later, changing our course sharply to the 
south, we soon came in sight of the city of Smyrna, 
stretching from the water's edge far back and up the 
hillside, with its modern architecture contrasting 
strongly with the ancient mud ruins of most of these 
oriental cities. Shortly before entering the inner 
harbor, a Turkish patrol-boat came out and guided 
us through a winding channel to avoid the torpedoes 
that are thickly planted as a means of preventing the 
entrance of the Italian fleet. A number of dismantled 
vessels were also anchored across the harbor, pre- 
paratory to being scuttled and sunk as obstructions 
in case of an attack by the Italian fleet. 

April 2. — This morning our party went ashore and 
taking carriages drove to the ancient portion of the 
city, which is built upon the hillside, back from the 
water's edge. As we ascended the hill by a winding 
road through a maze of old dilapidated one-story 
dwellings, the view of the modern city and the harbor 
as it lay spread out before us became more and more 
fascinating. At the top of the hill are the ruins of an 
old castle dating from the Byzantine period, and 
forming a picturesque background to the city. De- 
scending the hill we drove for two hours through 
narrow and devious, though cleanly streets, con- 
stituting the Greek, Turkish and Armenian quarters, 
visiting the beautiful Greek Cathedral and returning 
to the boat for lunch. At noon we again went ashore 
and wended our way on foot through several miles 
of bazaars, seeing nothing of special interest and 
beauty except the oriental rugs and silks. We 
passed several trains of camels, the animals being 



88 

far superior in size and less filthy and fragrant than 
any we have heretofore seen in Egypt or the Holy 
Land. These camels were loaded with cotton, grain, 
raisins, figs, and many other fruits with which the 
country abounds. We had witnessed, by the way, in 
the back streets and market place, workmen packing 
these figs, and if ever I am tempted to buy and eat 
another package of figs, it will be only after I have 
ascertained by careful scrutiny of the label that they 
were packed in Oroville, Fresno or some other clean 
and disinfected region of California fig culture. 
Nearly all day a stiff breeze has been blowing, which, 
as we weighed anchor toward evening and steamed 
out of the harbor, ripened into a veritable gale, but 
as it was blowing off shore it only accelerated our 
speed. 

April 3. — Just before breakfast we sighted the 
entrance to the Dardanelles, where we were forced to 
await for several hours the arrival of a pilot-boat, 
in order to avoid being blown to kingdom come by 
accidental contact with some of the submarine tor- 
pedoes, which are said to be lying in wait for the 
Italian fleet. Shortly after entering the strait we 
passed the site of ancient Troy, of which nothing is 
now visible except a small hill. Both old and 
recent fortifications are in sight on either side at 
various points along the shore. Stopping for a short 
time abreast of the city of Dardanelles, we saw nine 
Turkish men-of-war with modern armor and arma- 
ment, discreetly waiting under the protecting aegis of 
heavy shore batteries, for the anticipated attack of 
the Italian fleet. The strait in its narrowest 
place is three-fourths of a mile wide and could be 



89 

rendered absolutely impassable to a hostile fleet by 
properly constructed fortifications. About the middle 
of the afternoon we passed from the Dardanelles into 
the Sea of Marmora, reaching Constantinople about 
midnight and remaining aboard the ship until 
morning. 

April 4- — Arising early I hastened on deck to get a 
first view of the world-famed Mohammedan capital. 
Anticipation had been extravagant and imaginative, 
but now reality was about to succeed to imagination. 
As my eyes fell upon the scene before me, and aided 
by a strong pair of field glasses, took in the whole scope 
of the surrounding landscape, I felt that Constan- 
tinople needs no overwrought enthusiasm of the artist 
in colors, no eulogistic word-painting of the fanciful 
poet, to place her in the forefront of the scenic 
beauties of the world. The clear, blue sky, the 
gleaming waters of the Golden Horn and the Helles- 
pont, the amphitheatre of thickly peopled hills, the 
delicate and graceful minarets piercing the sky like 
great needles, the rounded domes of the five hundred 
mosques, and the massive walls of the stately palaces 
and, above all, its surpassing novelty, made the scene 
one long to be remembered. At every recurring 
glance, some new vista of gleaming towers, gilded and 
burnished by the morning sun, met the view. After 
breakfast we left the boat and in carriages proceeded 
to the Hotel Bristol, from which an hour later we 
resumed the carriages for a drive to various points of 
interest. The weather, which had changed during 
the night, became very much colder and a drizzling 
rain set in, rendering the situation very uncom- 
fortable. But, encased in all our heavy wraps, we 



90 

managed to get along without serious inconvenience. 
Our first stop was at the museum, a large and hand- 
some building literally filled wth rare specimens of 
ancient Greek and Roman sculpture, among which 
the tomb of Alexander the Great, exhumed by 
Schleiman at Sidon, is a marvel of artistic and beau- 
tiful sculpture in marble; also the sarcophagus of the 
mourning women and the satrap's coffin are of the 
highest order. Two large rooms are devoted exclu- 
sively to Greek and Roman sculptures and another 
to Babylonian and Assyrian antiquities . Still another 
large compartment is filled with the most exquisite 
specimens of modern art, consisting of presents from 
the various rulers and nations to the late deposed 
Sultan, and which, upon his abdication, were taken 
from his palace and placed in the museum. Leaving 
the museum we proceeded to the famous Mosque of 
St. Sophia, the largest and most important in the 
city. Originally erected by the Emperor Constan- 
tine as a Christian Church, it was destroyed by fire 
and again by war, and was successively rebuilt by the 
Emperors Theodosius and Justinian, and finally falling 
into the hands of the conquering Mohammedans, 
was converted into a mosque. Much of the original 
mosaic work of the Christian builders was painted 
over and destroyed by the Mohammedans . The chief 
beauty of the mosque lies in the massive and sym- 
metrical dome, which is supported by two half-domes 
and four massive pillars, and rises to a height of 
nearly two hundred feet. Looking up to this stu- 
pendous dome, resting in gloomy grandeur upon the 
towering strength of the sweeping columns, the 
impression is one of delighted wonder and deep solem- 
nity. The exterior of the building is less imposing 



91 

owing to the enormous piers reared against it as a guard 
against earthquakes, yet the four minarets in their 
lofty and dehcate beauty reheve the heaviness. Our 
next point of interest was the Mosque of Ahmed I, 
which is the only one outside of Mecca that contains 
six minarets. Its chief beauty consists of the white 
marble lining of its lower walls and the exquisite blue 
fayence tiling above, reaching to the ceiling. Leav- 
ing here we proceeded to the bazaars and alighting 
from our carriages walked for an hour and a half 
through an apparently endless arcade of shops of 
every imaginable character. While they are per- 
haps more extensive than at any other place we have 
visited, they did not impress me as being anything 
like as typical and oriental in their display of wares as 
the bazaars of Cairo or Jerusalem. 

April 5. — This morning we drove across the bridge 
spanning the Golden Horn, visiting first the Mosque 
of Bayazid, or as it is commonly called, the pigeon 
mosque. Here the distribution of a few handfuls of 
grain summons thousands of pigeons of beautifully 
tinted plumage, but the mosque in itself is unattrac- 
tive. Passing from here we next visited the Mosque 
of Suliman the Great, noted as being internally the 
most beautiful in the city. Its original decorations 
which were elaborately beautiful, are sadly marred 
by the striped painting done about fifty years ago, 
but there is much elegant blue fayence tiling and the 
most exquisite windows of Persian stained glass that 
we have yet seen. Driving from here we proceeded 
to the tower of Galata, a circular monument rising 
to the height of one hundred and fifty feet, marking 
the spot where the new walls of Galata met on the 



92 

east and west side in the fourteenth century. CHmb- 
ing the two hundred and fifty or more winding steps 
that lead to the top, we gazed out upon the magnif- 
icent capital of the Mohammedan world, spread like 
a beautiful painting at our very feet, the deep green 
and blue waters of the historic Bosphorus and its 
right arm, the Golden Horn, being flecked and dotted 
and ruffled with innumerable water craft of every 
description, from the great ocean liner to the tiniest 
row-boat. 

The world does not perhaps, in all its wide and won- 
derful expanse, offer a safer, more easily defended or 
more picturesquely beautiful site for a great city than 
here lies before us. Descending from the tower, we 
proceeded to the vicinity of the palace of the Sultan's 
mother, where the present Sultan repairs on Friday 
at noon to offer his prayers. We reached the open 
area near the mosque and awaited the coming of the 
great ruler of a hundred and fifty millions of people. 
Presently a troop of soldiers in yellowish-green khaki, 
marching with measured tread, halted and lined up on 
one side of the street. Another and yet another bat- 
talion of infantry followed, forming a line on either 
side of the roadway. Following these a squadron of 
mounted lancers, each lance bearing a small red 
Turkish flag lined up on both sides, reaching from the 
main gate of the Sultan's palace to their point of junc- 
tion with the line of infantry. After an hour's wait- 
ing a signal was heard and the Sultan's carriage was 
seen coming out of the palace gate. Preceding him 
came a mounted guard of twenty-five men, uni- 
formed in light blue coats, the skirts lined wih crim- 
son and crimson bands around each sleeve, blue 
trousers with a broad red stripe down the side and 



93 

drawn sabers held at a carry-arms. A mounted 
guard of like numbers followed behind the carriage. 
The Sultan's carriage in model was nothing out of the 
ordinary except that it was somewhat elaborately 
ornamented with gilt and was drawn by two large 
fine roan horses. In person he is a large, heavy 
featured man with very white whiskers and mustache, 
and a complexion almost tallow-like in its paleness. 
His mien was sober and almost stolid. Only once 
did he raise his head and mechanically salute the 
commanding officer of his guard as he passed him. 
As he came riding down between the lines of soldiers, 
he was greeted with perfunctory cheers, but no voice 
of welcome or enthusiasm came from the surrounding 
crowd of civilians. As soon as the Sultan had entered 
the mosque, the crowd broke in all directions and we 
rapidly drove to the monastery of the whirling der- 
vishes, where, after waiting an hour, we were admitted 
upon payment by our dragoman of five piastres each 
to witness the performance. The exhibition was a 
distinct disappointment. Arranged around a circular 
room were seated some twenty-five solemn- visaged 
men arrayed in loose robes, and wearing a tall brown 
sugar-loaf shaped fez. Presently a high-keyed voice 
in the gallery began a low monotonous chant, grad- 
ually increasing in volume and continuing without 
further demonstration for fifteen minutes. At its 
conclusion there began the sound as of an ama- 
teur player on the flute, which continued in 
monotonous discord for another period of a quarter 
of an hour. Then the solemn circle of dervishes 
arose in unison and slowly circling around the room, 
each one as he reached a point opposite the chief 
priest, turning and solemnly bowing to the one next 



following him, who in turn repeated the salute. This 
continued for another five minutes, when suddenly 
all discarded their shoes and outer wraps and at a 
whispered word from the chief priest began one after 
the other to whirl round and round slowly and con- 
tinually, gradually increasing their speed until the 
skirts of their long loose garments stood out almost 
straight horizontally. How long this continued is 
unknown, as ten minutes of it was sufficient to satisfy 
our curiosity, tempered as it was by a fiercely increas- 
ing appetite for lunch, which had been awaiting us 
at the hotel for an hour and a half. Returning to the 
hotel we packed our baggage and drove to the boat, 
sailing an hour before dusk on the Lloyd-Austrian 
steamer Leopolis for Athens. Of all the peoples we 
have seen in these oriental regions the Turks are the 
cleanest, handsomest, most intelligent and self- 
respecting. The cleanliness of the streets in Con- 
stantinople was a surprise and was in distinct con- 
trast with the filthiness of those we found without 
exception in other Mohammedan cities. I suppose 
it is attributable to the reform measures inaugurated 
by the "Young Turk" administration. 

The numberless, ownerless street dogs that were 
wont to perform the office of city scavengers have 
been banished to one of the adjacent islands, and in 
their places are to be seen numerous men with stiff 
brooms, carefully and continuously sweeping and 
gathering up the refuse and animal droppings, much 
after the manner in American cities. The streets are 
all paved with granite blocks, some of which in the 
older and less frequented parts of the city are very 
rough and sadly in need of repair. In fact as to most 
of the streets it can only in truth be said they are 



95 

paved with good intentions. No asphalt pavements 
are yet in evidence, and telephones and electric lights 
are alike conspicuous by their absence. Dishonesty 
in all lines of business is all pervading. From the 
hotel-keeper to the smallest shopman, no oppor- 
tunity is wasted to "short change" the unwary or 
inexperienced purchaser. There is, however, an 
almost total absence of the universal cry for back- 
sheesh that has filled our ears at every point in our 
progress from Funchal to Damascus. The Turkish 
porters, like most of their oriental brethren of similar 
occupation in Egypt and Palestine, are marvels of 
strength and endurance. Slung to their backs is a 
padded bag or cushion as a protection from bruise or 
abrasion, and often have I seen one of them with head 
and back bent almost to a level with his knees, car- 
rying a full-sized lady's trunk, a large leather suit- 
case and a hand-bag, while in one hand would be 
borne a well-loaded canvas carryall and in the other 
two or three canes and umbrellas. For carrying such 
a load a distance in many instances of nearly a quarter 
of a mile, he feels richly compensated with the con- 
tribution of the equivalent of an American quarter of 
a dollar. The Turks are a curiously irrational people. 
They are all solemn fatalists. In their view it makes 
no difference whether sanitary measures are taken 
to prevent disease or not. If one's time has come 
to die, quarantine will not save him; if it has not 
come, cholera won't kill him, and yet, in spite of all 
this, they have widely prevalent quarantine regula- 
tions, though I surmise these have been brought about 
more through the fear of losing the harvest of Euro- 
pean and American travel than from any gleam of 
light that has penetrated their religious darkness. 



96 

April 6. — All day we have been steering a south- 
westerly course through the Aegian sea, passing the 
islands of Mitylene and Skyros. The weather has 
gradually moderated and the water is smooth and 
well behaved. The sun went down behind the hills 
of Euboeia with full notice that there would shortly 
follow a panorama such as human artist never painted. 
Five minutes after the god of day had hidden his 
golden face behind the rugged mountain, a belt of 
volcanic fire shot athwart the western sky, sending 
pointed spears of flame far out into the northern and 
southern horizon; immediately above appeared a 
heavy band of lilac purple, superimposed by a narrow 
ribbon of magenta, interspersed here and there by 
divers oases of lemon yellow. Still above this was 
a long narrow belt of robin's egg blue, and in con- 
tinued succession a strip of carmine dominated by a 
wider band of royal purple, a heavy cord of light 
orange, a mixed bank of mahogany, dark purple and 
blue-black and then as a final wind-up, the entire 
horizon became overspread with a broad blaze as 
from the bottomless pit, gradually fading into dull 
gray as the shades of night closed the scene. 

April 7. — Came on deck at 6 a. m., and found we 
were just about steaming into the harbor of Piraeus. 
A Grecian man-of-war lay at anchor decorated with 
all her bunting in honor of Easter Sunday. Numer- 
ous other vessels crowded the anchorage and the city 
presented a quite modern appearance, a number of 
tall chimneys indicating quite a manufacturing indus- 
try of some kind. After landing and a detention of 
half an hour at the customs house we took carriages 
and drove over a fine, smooth macadamized road to 



97 

Athens. The road was lined with a double row of 
pepper trees that looked stunted, sickly and almost 
without foliage. An hour's drive brought us to our 
hotel — the Palace — where we found that owing to an 
educational convention now in session our pre-engaged 
rooms had all been turned over to the delegates and 
our director was obliged to scatter us in various third 
rate hostelries. While our baggage was being 
adjusted we took a walk about the city and wound up 
at the King's palace, where we listened to a Lutheran 
church service and saw the King and Queen as they 
came out of church. 

April 8. — After breakfast we entered carriages and 
were driven first to the Stadium or Greek theatre. 
This is situated in a natural basin or depression and 
was originally planned by Lycurgus some three hun- 
dred years B. C. The present building is the gift 
of a wealthy Greek citizen. It is oval in shape, the 
seats being of marble and ranged one row above 
another, with an amphitheatre in the center. The 
effect is very beautiful and the seating capacity is 
nearly fifty thousand. The approach is guarded by 
a gateway supported by Corinthian columns of terra- 
cotta which are soon to be supplanted by marble. 
From the Stadium we drove to the ruins of the Olym- 
pieion, Hadrian's Arch, the Monument of Lysikrates, 
the theatre of Dionysius, the Odeion of Herodes 
Atticus, temple of Aesculapius, the Areopagus, the 
Acropolis, including the Prophylaea, Erechtheon and 
Parthenon, full descriptions of which are found in a 
hundred different volumes on Greece. This being 
Easter Monday, is a Greek national holiday, and the 
streets and parks are full of people in holiday attire, 
1677—7 



98 

and all places of business are closed. In the evening 
there was music by the National band and a grand 
torchlight procession. But the crowning glory of the 
evening was the fireworks and illumination of the 
Parthenon and Erechtheon. Fixed cylinders con- 
taining Greek fire had been placed at frequent inter- 
vals throughout both buildings. At 9 o'clock the 
firing of skyrockets began from Acropolis hill and half 
an hour later the cylinders of Greek fire were lighted. 
In an instant both temples were aflame and their 
columns were sharply outlined against the sky. At 
first the outside of the temples were of a vivid green, 
while the inside was a sheet of blazing red ; gradually 
the colors were reversed and the outside became 
sheathed in the flames of a consuming conflagration, 
while the inside took on the deep shading of green. 
Four times in succession was this reversing of colors 
maintained, lasting in all a full half hour, and then the 
fire died down and the beautiful ruins sank into the 
obscurity of night. Never have I seen anything in 
the nature of fireworks or illumination that impressed 
me so deeply with its beauty and grandeur. This 
afternoon we were moved from our disagreeable 
quarters in the Palace Hotel annex to more comfort- 
able lodgings in the Continental Hotel. 

A'pril 9. — During the morning we drove to the 
principal cemetery of ancient Athens. The ceme- 
tery has been excavated and most of the monuments 
and sarcophagi have been removed, but a number of 
the more durable monuments dating from four hun- 
dred to three hundred B. C. have been left in their 
original positions. From here we visited the National 
Archaeological Museum, containing an endless collec- 



99 

tion of statuary, implements, personal adornments 
and other objects of Grecian antiquity, sufficient to 
confuse the mind and paralyze the memory. After 
driving through the bazaars, which here are trifling in 
extent compared with those we have hitherto seen, 
we returned to our hotel, but after lunch we again 
entered the carriages for a two and one-half hours 
drive to the ruins of Eleusis, where, although there 
are some extensive and somewhat interesting ruins, 
we did not feel fully repaid for the long and tiresome 
drive. 

April 10. — Following an early call for breakfast we 
marshaled our luggage and left on the train for 
Corinth. The country between Athens and Corinth 
is poor and thin in soil, but every available inch is 
under cultivation. In many places wheat is sown 
on land covered with loose stones the size of one's fist 
and apparently as thick as the fresh piles of broken 
rock upon a macadamized road. Just before reach- 
ing Corinth we came in view of the Corinth ship canal, 
cut across the isthmus of Corinth and uniting the 
Gulf of Corinth with the Bay of Salamis. The canal 
forms a perpendicular cut about one hundred and 
fifty feet deep and seventy-five feet wide and carries 
twenty-six feet of water. Arriving at modern Corinth 
we entered carriages and drove to ancient Corinth, 
where we visited some rather inconsequential ruins, 
and a small museum of antiquities excavated by the 
American school. After lunch amidst the ruins we 
mounted mules and took the trail for Aero Corinth. 
This is a massive, almost perpendicular rock, rising 
nineteen hundred feet above the plain. A winding 
trail leads up to the foot of the fortifications, thence 



100 

we ascended on foot for half or three-quarters of an 
hour inside the fortifications to the summit. The 
upper half of the giant rock is surrounded by a mas- 
sive stone wall more than a mile and a half in length, 
entrance to which is through a succession of three 
massive gates. It reminds one of the impregnable 
fortress, of Gibraltar, and the view from the summit 
is one of imposing grandeur. We could see the hills 
of Argolis; the country of Agamemnon and Mount 
Parnassus and Helicon were clearly visible, while the 
Saronic Gulf and the Gulf of Corinth mingled their 
beautifully blue waters with the green and brown 
tints of the surrounding hills. 

Leaving Corinth for Patras we passed through a 
plain under a high state of cultivation, and covered 
in great part with vineyards and olive orchards. We 
reached Patras after dark, encountering a severe rain 
storm en route, had our dinner at the hotel and imme- 
diately after repaired to the ship Scylla bound for 
Brindisi. Looking back to my youthful days I call 
to mind no historical readings that were as full of 
interest, so intensely absorbing and that so grappled 
the memory with lasting impressions as the annals of 
ancient Greece. Preceding the period of authenticity 
is a rich stream of mythological tradition, dealing 
with giants and cyclops; with heroes and heroines 
engaged in mighty struggles with monsters of the 
plain or vasty deep; with distant voyages and peril- 
ous adventures in search of rumored treasures or in 
the redress of injustice and wrong. The siege of Troy, 
the retreat of Xenophon, the defence of Thermopylae, 
the defeat of Xerxes, and destruction of his fleet at 
Salamis; the great victory over Darius at Marathon; 



101 

the final triumph over the Persian invaders at Platea, 
the Peloponnesian War and the all pervading vic- 
tories of Alexander the Great, are events in Greek 
history that every school-boy read with almost bated 
breath. But these military glories and achievements 
have passed like an iridescent dream. To-day her 
philosophy, her architecture, and her sculptors' art 
are in ruins; her people are steeped in ignorance, and 
yet the traveler who is familiar with her ancient his- 
tory and glories feels in the atmosphere and sees in her 
plains and mountains a recrudescence of all the old 
stories of his school days. Physically, Greece is now 
what it ever has been, a country where the self- 
asserting rock is ever thrusting its barrenness through 
a thin plating of miserly soil. Barbarians of various 
names have conspired to reduce the architectural 
grandeur of Greece to crumbling and scattered ruins 
and to dim the splendor of her intellectual achieve- 
ments, but there still lives through the remnant 
records of the vanished centuries, the philosophy, the 
art and the wisdom of Pericles, Phidias, Socrates, 
Plato and Solon. 

April 11. — After lying in the harbor all night our 
ship sailed at 6 a. m. for Brindisi. The storm of the 
previous day had left the sea rather rough and shortly 
after lunch we struck out into the open ocean. In 
fifteen minutes the entire company of passengers were 
as sick as a lot of poisoned pups. The vessel was 
small and the waves tossed her about like a cork. 
I was able to get in bed with all my clothes on and was 
content to remain there without further activity all 
day and all night throughout the weary sleepless 
hours. 



102 

April 12. — Arrived at Brindisi and reached the 
shore after an exceedingly Ught breakfast, driving 
directly to the railroad station, where we boarded 
the cars for Naples. The route at first skirts for 
several hours in a northerly direction, following closely 
the coast of the Adriatic Sea, through a country that 
is almost one continuous vineyard and orchard of 
almonds and olives. The soil is red, thin and stony, 
and yet every square foot of it that by any possibility 
can be made to produce a crop, however meagre, is 
brought under cultivation. Everywhere you see 
great piles of stones that year after year for genera- 
tions have been garnered from the fields and every 
field is surrounded by a high stone wall as the result 
of annual crops gathered from time immemorial. 
No American farmer would dare to think of utilizing 
such soil for anything but grazing stock for a few 
months in the spring and early summer. At Foggia, 
or a little before reaching there, the road strikes 
across the country in a southwesterly direction, and 
for a while passes through a level plain devoted largely 
to vines and olives, gradually superseded by broad 
wheat fields, which continue until the foothills of the 
Apennines are reached, where the chief industry 
appears to be sheep and goat raising. Here darkness 
overtook us and we saw nothing more of the country, 
reaching Naples shortly before midnight and driving 
at once to the Hotel Metropole. 

April 13. — Spent the day quietly resting at the 
hotel except for a short walk of observation among the 
stores and a drive up on the hill from which a com- 
manding view of the city and bay was obtained. In 
the course of these perambulations I learned one 



103 

thing, that in Italy nobody in rendering you a service 
is satisfied with the exact compensation agreed upon 
between you beforehand. Everyone expects some- 
thing additional at the end as an indication that you 
are satisfied with him. If you hire a guide to escort 
you to and through places of interest at a prescribed 
rate of one dollar a day he will expect and insist at the 
end of the day upon having what he calls a "buonos 
manos" of twenty or twenty-five cents in addition to 
the contract price. If you take a short ride in a taxi- 
cab, for which the registered fare amounts to one lire 
or twenty cents, the driver expects an additional two 
to four cents with which to get a glass of wine or a dish 
of macaroni, and in like proportion you are expected 
to tip the barber after paying the regulation price for 
a shave. Good humor and good spirits seem to be 
epidemic. Even the black-eyed, barefooted street 
urchins, who tell you they have had nothing to eat 
for two days as they beg you for five centissimi, equal 
to one cent, are convulsed with laughter even though 
you refuse, and dart off turning the most agile cart- 
wheels down the narrow street. Cows and goats are 
driven from door to door, there to furnish their cus- 
tomers with milk. The goats especially form a pict- 
uresque element and Nanny is a remarkably intelli- 
gent creature after being properly educated in city 
ways. Each morning they are driven into town in 
large bands from the surrounding country pastures, 
and as they arrive the caravan gradually disintegrates 
as in smaller groups they wend their way in different 
directions and down different streets to the neighbor- 
hood of their respective customers. When they 
reach a house where one of them has to be milked, the 
others lie down on the pavement while the selected 



104 

Nanny marches gravely up the stairs with the goat- 
herd to be milked and the operation over quietly 
comes down the stairway and rejoins her companions. 
A goat will step aside and give roadway to a horse 
and cart, or an automobile, but in return requires the 
same deference from a bicycle or a pedestrian. 

April 14' — Spent most of the morning at the hotel 
resting, but went to the museum for an hour and 
spent another hour at the aquarium. A long street 
car ride filled in a portion of the day, stopping off 
from time to time and exploring the mysteries of the 
narrow and crooked side streets with their tiny shops 
and street vendors offering with great pertinacity 
everything for sale that you don't want and wouldn't 
have at any price. Vivid life and color greet you 
everywhere. Officers in clanging swords and daz- 
zling uniforms, gracious flower vendors with their 
wreath of fragrant blossoms, ragged and uncomely 
lazzaroni and a still different class of picturesque 
Neapolitans, who seem to have no occupation but 
that of seeking the sunny side of the street and lazily 
basking in its warm rays without a care for to-day or 
a thought of the morrow. 

The Museum contains a fine library and picture 
gallery including many wonderful works by Botticelli 
Raphael, Titian, Correggio, Reni and others equally 
famous, and the aquarium though comparatively 
small, is filled with many rare, curious and beautiful 
specimens of sea life. 

April 16. — Spent the day in repacking our trunks 
and suit-cases with a view to shipping the former by 
express to Paris. 



105 

April 16. — Took the train this morning for Pompeii, 
The ride is through a level country, affording a beau- 
tiful and extensive view of the Mediterranean and 
the island of Capri on one side and Mount Vesuvius 
and a snow covered range on the other side. Arriv- 
ing at the ruined city, upon the payment of the equiva- 
lent of half a dollar each, we were admitted through a 
gate and left to wander at will along the excavated 
and silent streets. Apparently the houses were 
mostly one and two stories in height. They were 
built of brick and many of the more pretentious ones 
were built around spacious courts and adorned with 
numerous Doric or Corinthian columns. These 
columns were sometimes of limestone, but usually of 
brick originally covered with a stucco made of crushed 
or powdered marble. The inside walls of the building 
were also stuccoed or plastered and usually frescoed 
with decorations and designs suited to the character 
of each room. These decorations were largely 
ruined or obliterated by the heated ashes and fumes 
that overwhelmed the city, and only here and there 
sufficient remnants are found to bear testimony to 
their original beauty. These courts were lavishly 
adorned by exquisite marble and bronze statues, 
nearly all of which have been removed to the National 
Museum of Naples. There is, however, a small 
museum in which are preserved the calcined corpses 
of a number of persons and animals just as they were 
overtaken by the shower of volcanic ashes, and show- 
ing clearly the agonizing struggles of their last 
moments. There are also preserved loaves of bread 
that were just ready or had just gone into the oven 
to be baked, and likewise figs and other fruits mar- 
velously preserved and petrified by the action of the 



106 

heat and gases. At least these are the things that 
are shown and these are the stories that are told to 
tenderfoot travelers, who, if they have not already had 
their stock of credulity bankrupted by experience in 
Egypt and Palestine, usually swallow them without 
a grimace. Undoubtedly there was much outward 
display and great luxury and extravagance of living 
among the wealthier classes in the city, but as an awe 
inspiring ruin Pompeii is not to be spoken of in the 
same breath with the pyramids, temples and tombs 
of Egypt or the classic remains of the Parthenon and 
other Grecian temples. 

April 17. — Took the boat this morning for a trip to 
Capri and the Blue Grotto. In order that no oppor- 
tunity may be missed to separate the traveler from 
his coin, the steamer, instead of tying up alongside 
the wharf so that passengers could step aboard, was 
moored out about twenty-five yards from shore. 
This rendered it necessary to take a small boat and to 
pay the owner thirty centimes to be landed on board. 
This financial scheme is carried out in monotonous 
detail throughout the trip. Hardly has the steamer 
started before a band of strolling musicians favor us 
with ear-splitting music and at four different inter- 
vals on the trip pass the hat and stare us out of 
countenance until we yield up other instalments of 
centimes. Furthermore, this holdup process is again 
worked on us at the Blue Grotto and at the landing 
from and returning to the vessel at Capri. The first 
stop on the trip is at Sorrento, which like all these 
Italian coast towns begins with a narrow street along 
the water front and immediately proceeds to climb 
the steep and rocky hillside back of it. There is 



107 

nothing particularly interesting here except the villa 
of F. Marion Crawford, which is on the very edge of a 
high cliff overlooking the water. Passing the town 
of Capri we proceeded first to the famous Blue Grotto. 
Here we were taken from the steamer in small boats 
holding but two persons each besides the oarsman. 
The entrance to the grotto is in the face of a perpen- 
dicular cliff at the water's edge, and as you approach 
the entrance it is necessary to lie down flat in the 
bottom of the boat to avoid hitting your head against 
the rock above, but immediately after entering you 
find yourself within a large cave. As soon as you sit 
up in the boat and look down into the water, your 
eyes are fairly dazzled with an intense shade of 
blue, the lustre and brilliancy of which you have never 
seen equaled in the heavens above, the earth beneath 
or the waters under the earth. As there was a large 
crowd on the steamer, all desirous of seeing the grotto, 
the small boats had to make repeated trips and there- 
fore one was only allowed to remain in the cave about 
five minutes. After all had made the trip the steamer 
proceeded back to Capri village. We landed and 
took the Funicular railway to the town of Anacapri. 
Here Monte Salaro rises abruptly from the sea nearly 
two thousand feet. We walked a distance up the 
via Krupp, a road that leads to a mansion erected by 
the daughter of the great German gun-maker and 
from a high point looked down directly into the beau- 
fully tinted waters of the Mediterranean, shallow 
enough at this point to reflect all the varied tints of 
the rocks and sea moss on the bottom. From the 
Krupp mansion a most marvelously constructed road 
winds its tortuous way along the perpendicular side 
of the cliff down to the water's edge. After spending 



108 

several hours wandering around Capri we returned to 
Naples in time for dinner. 

April 18. — Spent most of the day in making prepa- 
rations for our departure to Rome. Shipped our 
trunks to London and bid good-bye to the remaining 
members of our party. This ends our regular tour 
with H. W. Dunning & Co, and henceforth we travel 
on our own responsibility. We have had ruins, tem- 
ples, tombs, pyramids and mosques galore. We have 
had all the dialects that began with the dispersion 
at the tower of Babel and that have survived the cen- 
turies to date. We have looked upon Rameses and 
the old Pharaohs as they caused themselves to be 
pictured upon their own sarcophagi, and we have 
dickered with their descendants for scarabs and beads 
and shawls. We have seen the spot where Moses of 
old was yanked out of his cozy bed amidst the bul- 
rushes of the Nile and were surprised to find that it 
was a place where apparently no self-respecting bul- 
rush ever had the temerity to grow. We have been 
through the country where Father Abraham said 
unto Lot: "Let there be no strife between mine and 
thine," or words to that effect, and if the whole region 
were offered to an American stock-raiser free of rental 
he would doubtless look further We have been to 
Jericho and the River Jordan and the Dead Sea. 
We have seen the place where the spies of Joshua 
lodged, pending their return with the bunch of grapes 
from Eschol, suspended from their shoulders upon a 
pole, and we failed to see even by the eye of faith a 
foot of land for thirty miles on either side that would 
tempt a California vineyardist to invest thirty cents 
in the planting of a vineyard. We have planted our 



109 

feet within the sacred precincts of the Holy City of 
Jerusalem, and have been puzzled to determine in the 
quarters of which particular religious sect is to be 
found the lowest depth of poverty, the most per- 
vading accumulations of human filth and the most 
persistent and scientific methods of beggary. We 
have been to "fair Damascus on the fertile banks of 
Abana and Paraphon," the oldest existent city of the 
world, where the canine scavengers contend through- 
out the slumberless hours of night with bark and 
snarl and yell for a fair division of the public slops 
and offal, and failed to find that time has been any 
particular factor in the evolution of methods prac- 
ticed forty centuries ago. We have sailed up the 
beautiful strait of Dardanelles, carefully piloted 
through the winding and tortuous channel, that we 
peradventure might not be suddenly cut short in our 
earthly careers by the system of submerged torpedoes, 
and finally came to anchor in that great city of the 
Golden Horn, once the capital of the illustrious 
Emperor Constantine, but now the head and strong- 
hold of the Mohammedan millions of the Orient. 
We have walked the streets of classic Athens, where 
the philosophy of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, that 
has charmed the intellectual world for more than 
twenty centuries, was first expounded ; where Demos- 
thenes pronounced the orations that are still held as 
models of eloquence; where the military achieve- 
ments of Alcibiades and Miltiades gave glory and 
prestige to their native city; where "the mountains 
look on Marathon and Marathon looks on the sea;" 
where the noble hill of the Acropolis stands, yet sur- 
mounted with the ruins of that model of beauty, 
dignity and splendor, the Parthenon. We have sailed 



110 

amidst "the isles of Greece, where burning Sappho 
loved and sung;" where the giant Colossus once 
bestrode the harbor of Rhodes to the wonder of the 
ancient world, and where present appearances indi- 
cate that the goddesses of poetry and sentiment have 
taken unto themselves wings and that hard, grinding 
poverty is measured out in daily allowance to these 
ignorant and unfortunate descendants of the world's 
immortals. We have crossed the plains of sunny 
southern Italy, where Hannibal and Fabius con- 
tended respectively for the glory and power of Car- 
thage and Rome. We have trod the streets and 
gazed with wondering eyes upon Naples and her 
beautiful bay, but have not felt like fulfilling the old 
saying of "See Naples and die.' We have gazed 
upon the erstwhile angry and vaporous crater of 
Vesuvius, but find it now on its very best behaviour. 
We have walked the resurrected streets of Pompeii 
and have viewed its excavations with mingled feel- 
ings of awe and disgust, and now we pass to other 
scenes and wonders. 

April 19. — Left Naples for Rome. The trip was 
without special incident. The country through 
which we passed was most beautiful and fertile. 
Every foot of available ground was in the highest state 
of cultivation and owing to recent copious rains the 
crops bid fair to be bounteous. A large portion of the 
land was devoted to grapes and olives, with con- 
siderable fields of wheat, artichokes and garden vege- 
tables. As per previous engagement we drove to the 
Hotel Boos in the Palazzo Rospigliosi, where we 
found our room ready for us. It is a large rambling 
building, looking on the outside much like a dilapi- 



Ill 

dated Spanish adobe, but on the inside very clean, 
comfortable and for this country a very decent table. 
As is customary, however, on this side of the great 
water, the breakfast consists of nothing but vile 
coffee, dry bread and jam, unless you supplement it 
by ordering eggs, for which an extra charge is made. 
We are very centrally located on the main business 
street, or via Nationale as it is called and immediately 
opposite the bank of Italy, which is a large four story 
marble building covering half a block and adorned 
with sundry and divers marble statues of heroic size. 

April 20. — Here we are in Rome. Rome whose 
foundation is mythologically ascribed to Romulus 
and Remus the twin babes, who after being cast into 
the river were rescued and nourished by a she wolf. 
Rome who gradually conquered and absorbed the 
Sabines, the Etruscans and the Samnians. Rome, 
the despotism and lechery of whose rulers inspired 
the revolt that drove the Tarquins from the throne. 
Rome whose glory was enhanced and whose power 
was extended by the defeat of Hannibal and the de- 
struction of Carthage. Rome, whose territories were 
extended to Gaul and Britain through the genius and 
mihtary sagacity of Julius Caesar. Rome, who at 
last through her conquests became the mistress of the 
civilized world. Rome,where the eloquence of Cicero 
fired the heart and stirred the imagination and com- 
manded the love of the common people. Rome, the 
home of Raphael and Michael Angelo. Rome, the 
head of the great Catholic Church with her tomb and 
her church of St. Peter. Rome, with her majestic 
and historic ruins that bear witness to her days of 
pomp and power, that have survived her periods of 



112 

distress and defeat and now stand as material evi- 
dence of her former greatness and achievements. 

Of course, we began our sightseeing by a visit to 
the Church of St. Peter. For some reason, as we 
approached it, the dome did not appeal to me as 
being so commanding in size as I expected. The 
shape of the Basilica — that of a Latin cross, no doubt 
has much to do with this. But the grand and beau- 
tiful things that are contained within its walls in the 
way of exquisite statuary, historic paintings and 
beautiful monuments, the amount of laborious and 
painstaking ornamentation, the blind faith, zeal and 
patience exercised in the conception and execution of 
them, is one of the great mysteries of the human mind 
and one of the great eccentricities of the human imagi- 
nation. In the building, multiplication and embel- 
lishment of churches and cathedrals, the central head 
of the great Roman Catholic Church has for hundreds 
of years exacted increasing contributions from its 
millions of devotees throughout the world, most of 
which has been spent, not in the uplift of the people, 
but in the maintenance of a horde of priests whose 
appearance indicates nothing but a lot of jolly good 
fellows accustomed to the wines and warmth of good 
living, and in the spectacular adornment of its innu- 
merable and largely unnecessary places of worship. 
And yet I must do the Catholic Church the credit to 
say that were it not for the fear of future punishment 
it holds so sternly and heavily over its devotees, the 
ranks of anarchy and socialism would be rapidly 
and largely increased. 

These Italians, on the average, are a much better 
and more prosperous looking people than the general 
run of those we find in America, but that of course is 



113 

due to the fact that we as a rule only get the refuse 
and offscouring of the country. Among the mer- 
chants however, business integrity is an unknown 
quantity, at least so far as their dealings with strangers 
are concerned. From the hackman who hauls you 
through the streets, to the most fashionable store- 
keeper from whom you make a purchase, the insistent 
and unblushing attempt to balloon your bill or short- 
change you in its payment is, so far as my experience 
goes, invariably made. Nothing but a knowledge of 
their money values can save one from this imposition. 
If there is a more dishonest people on the face of the 
earth I have never met them, unless it be the Japanese. 
And yet such suavity, such deferential poHteness 
and such all-around good natured attention as one 
receives in his contact with them exceeds anything 
we have yet encountered. From St. Peter's we pro- 
ceeded to the Vatican and first took our way through 
the museum, with its numerous and lengthy halls and 
its nearly two thousand works of art. From thence 
we were shown through the library containing many 
most beautifully hand-illuminated vo umes and also a 
large collection of most magnificent testimonials pre- 
sented to the various popes by the sovereigns of the 
world. In the evening we proceeded to the Coliseum, 
where a band concert was in progress, and where, 
after the close of the concert, a grand illumination of 
the magnificent ruin with red and green Greek fire 
took place, somewhat after the manner of that of the 
Parthenon we saw at Athens, but not comparable 
with the latter in beauty and effect. 

April 21. — Visited the Galleria d'Arte Modernaor 
gallery of Belles Arts, containing a large collection of 
1677—8 



114 

modern Italian paintings, some of which, to the eye 
of the layman, are very fine and many more are medi- 
ocre. In the afternoon strolled through the Coliseum 
and a portion of the Forum. This magnificent 
ruin of the Coliseum stands as the most striking 
reminder of the days when Rome, in her pomp, 
potency and power, ruled the civilized world. Built 
through the toil, the anguish and the life-blood of the 
Jewish captives who survived the capture and sacking 
of Jerusalem by the Emperor Titus, it became the 
scene and the resort for all the functions of a public 
character. Here, at its dedication, a carnival of 
blood and blood-thirsty carnage ensued, when five 
thousand wild and ferocious animals were slain by the 
no less savage and ferocious gladiators. Here the 
early Christians were dragged from the dens and 
caves and catacombs and consigned without mercy 
and amid the cheers and frantic plaudits of the 
onlooking multitudes to the tearing claws and bloody 
fangs of the savage beasts of the African jungle. 
Here for four hundred years the gladiatorial contests 
took place and the untamed animal of the forest and 
desert contended with the fiercer barbarian captive 
for the holiday amusement of the Roman people. 
But time, the tomb-builder, has laid his heavy hands 
upon the massive pile, and out of its broken arches 
and terraces grow variegated mosses, wild myrtle, 
olive and a variety of other flowers and plants. 

April 22. — This morning we visited the Gesu, 
which is the principal church of the Society of Jesus, 
and is the most beautiful and profusely decorated 
place of worship in Rome. Numerous large and 
massive columns of lapis lazuli and bronze adorn the 



115 

interior, and the marbles used are of almost every 
shade of beauty and richness. From here we pro- 
ceeded to the church of St. Andrea della Valle, which 
covers the site where Caesar was assassinated. These 
churches, with their thick marble walls and an entire 
absence of heat, are as cold and uninviting to one 
whose blood has been thinned by long residence in a 
warm climate as the veriest prison dungeon, and 
lucky is the visitor who succeeds in leaving without 
the nucleus of a severe cold. 

April 23. — Visited and more particularly examined 
the Forum and Column of Trajan. This column was 
erected by Trajan in commemoration of his victory 
over the Dacians. It stands about one hundred and 
fifty feet high and is literally covered from base to 
capital with bas-reliefs, recording the various inci- 
dents of his conquests. The Forum lies between the 
ancient Capitoline and Palatine hills. It was once 
surrounded by a two story colonnade and adorned 
with magnificent temples, and in the days of Cicero's 
eloquence and Cataline's defiance was the resort of 
tumultuous crowds of interested listeners. Only a 
few of its noble columns remain standing, and although 
its site has been excavated and exposed to modern 
view, its floor was for centuries buried under some 
twenty-five feet of accumulated rubbish and crum- 
bling ruins. Looking upon these remnants of past 
glory and magnificence one is brought to a realizing 
sense of the mutability of human events. Eighteen 
hundred years ago the legions of Claudius protested 
against being led into the wilds of Britain, urging that 
it was a barbarous land and lay beyond the limits of 
the world, and now travelers from that same land of 



116 

barbarous Britain look with wondering pity upon the 
fallen grandeur of ancient Rome and point with 
pride to that magnificent realm of world-wide power 
and prosperity whose metropolis spans the Thames. 
Not far from here is the monument to Victor Emanuel, 
not yet completed, but one of the most beautiful and 
magnificent structures of the kind in the world. It 
makes Grant's tomb on Riverside Drive in New York 
look like thirty cents by contrast. It has already 
cost several millions of dollars, and will likely cost a 
million or two more before it is finished. The mas- 
sive building, with its many Corinthian columns, is 
somewhat crescent shaped and is constructed of pure 
white marble and adorned with almost innumerable 
bas-reliefs, carvings and statues, the latter of heroic 
and even gigantic size. Several equestrian statues 
are covered with gilt and catch the eye in the glare of 
the Italian sun as far as human vision can reach. 

April 24. — Not feeling well, remained most of the 
day in the hotel. From my front window I can look 
out upon the main thoroughfare, the Via Nationale, 
and watch the living, moving stream of humanity as 
it passes, and note with wonder and astonishment, 
even though it be in Rome, the hundreds and still 
more hundreds of priests, monks, friars, nuns and 
religious students, clad in the varied and striking 
garbs of their respective orders. They are to be seen 
singly and in groups, both large and small. Some of 
these orders are supported by the government, but 
the friars rely entirely upon alms and donations. In 
other words they are chronic beggars, and in order 
that they may be a credit to their profession, they 
pursue it with constant and unflagging industry. 



117 

It has been said that the priests, monks and nuns in 
Rome number one in twenty-five of the total popu- 
lation. Speaking of beggars, nearly everybody in 
Rome is guilty of the accusation in some form or 
other. A clerk in a shop expects a tip after you have 
paid the store price for the article of your purchase. 
A barber who shaves you follows you to the cashier 
and solicits a donation after you have paid for your 
shave. A cab-driver, who has been paid the agreed 
price for his cab, invariably expects a gratuity with 
which to buy a drink and so on ad infinitum and ad 
nauseam. 

April 25. — In the afternoon we entered a carriage 
and had a beautiful drive to the gardens and park on 
Pincio hill and at the Villa Borghese. The gardens 
and park are embelhshed by numerous marble busts 
of eminent Italians, both ancient and modern, and 
also with monuments and obelisks. On our way 
home we stopped at a cafe and refreshed ourselves 
with some villainous Italian coffee and some moder- 
ately good ice cream and cakes. We have not in all 
our travels so far since leaving home, through Africa, 
Asia or Europe, seen a single cup of coffee that would 
be tolerated for one moment by the patrons of the 
lowest class of American restaurants. One could 
waive the single item of coffee and take hot water as 
a substitute, except that one's breakfast never con- 
sists of anything but coffee and bread and butter, 
and if you eliminate the former, you have nothing 
left but extreme prison diet. Possibly, however, 
we Americans don't know good coffee when we see it, 
and foreigners may for all I know, reverse the above 
criticism when subjected to the morning diet of an 
American hostelry. 



118 
April 26. — Sick all day. 

April 27. — Again visited the Vatican and wandered 
through the Sistine Chapel, the hall of the Raphael 
tapestries and the Vatican picture gallery, the latter 
of which contains many noted pictures, including 
Raphael's Transfiguration and Madonna di Foligno 
and Titian's Madonna. The Vatican is a building 
of tremendous proportions, covering about twenty 
acres of ground and said to contain some four thou- 
sand rooms. Its galleries are filled with the world's 
choicest art treasures, both in paintings and stat- 
uary. Climbing a broad flight of marble steps, and 
passing through sundry saloons and corridors, we 
came to a gallery that seemed to be nearly a quarter 
of a mile long, peopled with statues of world-wide 
fame. For hours our wanderings continued with 
absorbed attention through halls, saloons and courts 
filled with statuary until it seemed as if we were 
threading the streets of a city whose inhabitants 
had all been turned to stone. The interest and the 
impressiveness of all these objects is greatly enhanced 
by the recollections and associations with which the 
imagination invests them. 

Among the statuary, one of the most curious is a 
colossal group of the Nile, displaying its River God 
reclining at full length, accompanied by the Ibis, the 
Hippopotamus and the AlHgator and surrounded 
by sixteen children playing about him, in allegorical 
allusion to the sixteen cubits which the river must rise 
to fertihze the land of Egypt. Another suite of 
rooms contains the Etruscan museum, where is 
displayed a vast collection of most interesting memor- 
ials of that ancient and obscurely known people who 



119 

conquered Italy and who excelled in civilization and 
the arts while the Greeks were yet barbarians and 
Rome was not even founded. Ornaments of gold, 
necklaces, chains, rings and brooches of beautiful 
and delicate workmanship are much in evidence, to 
say nothing of coins, vases and even tombs. 

April 28. — Visited the Forum of Augustus and the 
Palatine hill, including the Palace of Tiberius, House 
of Livia, Palace of Augustus, the Stadium, etc. 
From the summit of the Palatine a fine view of the 
whole city is obtained. 

April 29. — An all day rain kept us within doors. 

April 30. — Took a long drive out the Appian Way 
and to the Catacombs. The air was warm and 
spring-like, and both wild and cultivated flowers were 
blooming in profusion along the way. 

May 1 . — Took the train this morning for Florence. 
It began raining again just as we were leaving Rome 
and continued all day, gradually getting colder and 
colder, until when we reached Florence it was almost 
cold enough to snow. 

The country through which we passed was an agri- 
cultural and horticultural region possessing no 
unusual scenery or characteristics. The principal 
crops seemed to be grain and grapes, with here and 
there a few olive, apricot and almond trees. The 
railroad for a good many miles after leaving Rome 
follows the valley of the Tiber and then, after cross- 
ing a divide, continues down the valley of the Arno. 
On reaching Florence we entered the Albion hotel 



120 

omnibus, with directions to drive us to that hostelry. 
Later we found we had been driven to the hotel Roma, 
where we had to put up with a single room without a 
particle of heat anywhere in the hotel, with the 
weather damp and cold enough for mid-winter. 

May 2. — After luncheon we drove to the Albion 
hotel, where we secured a good room with steam heat. 
The one thing that has impressed me more than any 
other throughout Italy thus far is the inherent, insist- 
ent and universal dishonesty of the people. I have 
alluded to it heretofore, but experience here so far 
has only given it additional emphasis. Even the 
small matter of a penny seems sufficient to bury all 
moral instinct. During the afternoon took a walk 
among the shops along the Arno, and crossed the old 
Ponte Vecchio bridge which is lined on both sides 
with shops containing jewelry, antiquities and pic- 
tures of endless variety and style. The beautiful Arno, 
of which the poets and enthusiasts have so often sung, 
flows through the center of the city, walled in on 
both sides and crossed by numerous presumptuous 
bridges with massive stone arches. At present, 
owing to frequent rains, its current is as muddy as 
the Missouri, but its dimensions and its depth at 
ordinary stage, so far as I can judge, would, if in 
America, cause it to be denominated Arno creek. 
Speaking of America, the contrast between traveling 
there and here is most striking. In our land of mag- 
nificent distances and wide areas of thinly populated 
mountain and sage-brush desolation, a week or two 
of time would mean only a hasty and exhausting visit 
at large financial cost to a few of nature's interesting 
and wonderful exhibits. Here in Italy the congested 



121 

mass of interesting, beautiful and historically famous 
works of art and architecture, supplemented by the 
scenic charms of her lofty mountains and cerulean 
lakes, keeps one in a state of daily surprise at the com- 
paratively insignificant territorial size of European 
countries. It is almost dazing to pass in such quick 
succession from one interestmg place to another still 
more interesting. In her palaces, her cathedrals, 
her ancient ruins and her art galleries, Italy is like one 
of her fine and delicate mosaics, not a particle of 
whose surface but is beautified with some special his- 
tory. Nowhere that we have been does the unpre- 
pared and uninformed condition of the average tourist 
become so painfully apparent, for the days are all too 
short for both sight-seeing and study and the nights 
are imperatively required for recuperation from the 
day's fatigues. He who would enjoy this country 
thoroughly, should preface his trip with several 
months of careful preparation and study to familiar- 
ize himself with what he is about to see, and of its 
place and importance in the history of the world's 
art, architecture, religion and natural wonders. 
This fact is more deeply borne in upon me by reason 
of my own vital deficiencies along these lines. 

May 3. — Visited the Duomo or Cathedral of Santa 
Maria del Fiore, erected in the fourteenth century 
under instructions from the Florentines to rear a 
temple which was to exceed in magnificence anything 
the world had yet seen. The outside was con- 
structed of many colored marbles, which before they 
became dulled and stained by the ruthless hand of 
time must have been marvelously beautiful. The 
dome is larger than that of St. Peter's at Rome and 



122 

in fact was used by Michael Angelo as a model for the 
construction of St. Peter's. The ceiling of the dome 
is covered with frescoes which are much obscured by 
the dimness of the light. In fact, entering the Cathe- 
dral from the broad glare of day, it is ten or fifteen 
minutes before one's eyes become accustomed to the 
gloom. The stained glass windows are the glory of 
the place, and nothing more exquisite could be 
imagined than the soft and variegated shades of light 
that greet the eye on a bright sunshiny day. During 
our visit a babe was brought by its parents and was 
duly baptized by the officiating priest. Numerous 
monuments and statues grace the auditorium. The 
Sacristy in the right transept is said to have been a 
place of refuge for Lorenzo de Medici to escape assas- 
sination. Standing alongside the Duomo is the Cam- 
panile or tower, designed and constructed under the 
direction of the same architect, Giotto. It is nearly 
three hundred feet high and its adornment is carried 
out with a wealth of detail that is both confusing and 
tiresome. We also visited the Baptistry and 
admired its beautiful bronze doors, the like of which 
it is alleged do not exist elsewhere. 

In the afternoon we took a ride on the electric cars 
to the hill on which stands Galileo's house, from which 
a magnificent view of the city can be had. 

May Jf.. — Took a tour around among several of the 
superfluous churches that stare you in the face at 
almost every turn of the street. Each one of them 
is adorned on the inside with marble statues, gilded 
and mosaic ceilings, a full supply of costly and beau- 
tiful altars, images and paintings and a battalion of 
fat and lusty looking priests and attendants, all on the 



123 

keen scent for the people's money. Each one of these 
churches seems to contain at least one particular 
masterpiece in painting or statuary that is to be 
found nowhere else, consequently the solemn duty is 
impressed upon you of seeing them all. When one 
stops to think of the enormous amount of money that 
has been spent in building and decorating the infinite 
number of cathedrals, churches and baptisteries 
throughout this priest-ridden country, one can under- 
stand in some degree the ignorance, poverty and 
indebtedness of the people. One of the most noted 
churches we visited to-day was that of San Lorenzo, 
with its attachment of the Medici chapel, the burial 
place of the Medici family, and on which, though still 
unfinished, the family has expended three and one- 
half million dollars. The walls are of the costliest 
marbles inlaid with semi-precious stones. Here also 
are two of Michael Angelo's masterpieces in the shape 
of sepulchral monuments, pronounced by Nathaniel 
Hawthorne to be the one work worthy of his repu- 
tation. 

May 5. — This morning we changed the programme 
a little, and instead of starting in on more churches, 
we began our rounds with a visit to the Academy of 
Fine Arts. The masterpiece in this collection is the 
heroic statue of David by Michael Angelo. Along the 
walls of the various galleries are acres of paintings, 
mostly of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, by 
such noted artists as Fra Angelico, Fillipo Lippi, 
Veracchio and Perugino. From here we strolled to the 
grounds of the Palace Pitti. This is the residence of 
the King whenever he visits Florence. On the upper 
floor is the Pitti gallery, containing more unmeasured 



124 

acres of beautiful paintings, many of them counted 
among the world's masterpieces, but we deferred 
visiting them until another day. The Palazzo 
Vecchio, at one time the home of the Medici family 
and the place of Savonarola's imprisonment con- 
tains much of interest, and the Palazzo-Riccardi, also 
an ancient palace of the Media family, contains a few 
square miles of beautiful paintings and a chapel, the 
beauty and costliness of its adornments being alto- 
gether beyond the descriptive power of a layman. 
In the afternoon we visited and wandered through 
the Baboli gardens adjoining the Pitti palace, with its 
long avenues of fantastically trimmed trees, with 
their branches trained to interlace and form archways 
overhead. In almost every out of the way corner and 
nook one comes unexpectedly upon a marble statue 
of some once-prominent Italian statesman, architect 
or musician. 

May 6. — This morning we visited the church of 
Santa Croce, which is designated by all the guide 
books as the Westminster Abbey of Florence because 
of the many tombs, tablets and memorials of her 
illustrious dead. Among others the tomb of Michael 
Angelo, of Machiavelli, of Luigi Lanzi and monu- 
ments to Dante and Bruno are here. Within the 
church are half a dozen or more chapels, all contain- 
ing beautiful bas-reliefs, frescoes and statues. In the 
chapel of the Medici lies the body of Galileo. We 
next proceeded to the church of S. Annunziata, and, 
like all its congeners, it is filled in endless variety 
with frescoes, mosaics, monuments, etc., and in one 
of the chapels is an alleged miraculous picture ofthe 
Virgin, which, it is said, was begun by mortal hands 



125 

and finished by an angel. This is so sacred that it is 
covered up and visitors are rarely allowed to see it. 
We were among the unfortunates. 

In the afternoon I visited the Florentine Fine Arts 
gallery, filled with copies of the masterpieces, as well 
as modern paintings and statuary, all the product 
of Florentine artists and all for sale. I must confess 
that the improvement in color and touch shown by 
some of these copies over the originals was calculated 
to confirm a long existing impression in my mind that 
all the skill, beauty and cleverness of execution in the 
world of art was not buried in the tombs of the 
ancients. One very beautiful portrait on sale here 
of the artist's wife interested me very much, and I 
cast a longing eye upon it until, on inquiry, I found 
the price was thirteen thousand francs and the subse- 
quent proceedings interested me no more. 

May 7. — Spent a couple of hours wandering through 
the halls of the Uffizzi gallery, with its unending num- 
ber of paintings, busts and statues. We have had, 
as we thought, a profusion of these things before, but 
they dwindle into insignificance in comparison with 
the wealth and character of the collection exhibited 
in this gallery. Its collection represents the chro- 
nological development of art, beginning with the four- 
teenth and running down the scale of centuries since. 
Many of the earlier, and a considerable number 
of the later canvases are to the uneducated eye pos- 
sessed of little merit, but many of the sixteenth cen- 
tury productions are masterpieces of the world's 
most famous artists. Of all this collection the most 
beautiful painting is, in my crude and inexperienced 
judgment, Titian's Flora. Nearly all the pictures 



126 

of the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries 
have for their subject the Madonna and child, the 
Crucifixion, the Adoration of the Magi, the Annun- 
ciation and other incidents of the Ufe of Christ, and in 
that sense are very monotonous. One large gallery 
is devoted entirely to portraits of famous artists, each 
one painted by himself. In the afternoon we took 
the tram cars to Fiesole, over a winding, ascending 
and switch-back route, until we reached the summit 
of a very high hill from whence a rarely beautiful view 
of the city and the surrounding country is obtained, 
and where the yards and walls surrounding many of 
the houses are covered with great masses of beautiful 
roses, wistaria and other flowers. This hill was the 
site of ancient Florence at a time when every com- 
munity was forced to provide means for protecting 
itself against the buccaneering tendencies of its next 
door neighbor. 

May 8. — During the morning visited the banking 
house of French, Lemon and Co., where a number of 
American newspapers are kept on file. The political 
news from the United States is far from reassuring. 
Roosevelt seems to still maintain his hold on the 
canaille, and things seem to be rapidly drifting toward 
socialism and anarchy. The great fetish of universal 
suffrage that we have so devotedly worshipped is 
likely to prove the ultimate downfall of the republic. 
In the afternoon visited the Pitti gallery. While not 
so large as the Ufizzi, it contains over five hundred 
paintings, many of them the world renowned pro- 
ductions of the genius of Michael Angelo, Raphael, 
Titian and Rubens. The walls of the long galleries 
are literally covered with these works of art, and the 



127 

groined and arched ceilings are beautified by the most 
exquisite of frescoes. The contents of this gallery- 
consist of the accumulated private collections of the 
Grand Dukes of Tuscany. In addition to the paint- 
ings and statuary there are unnumbered tables of the 
most exquisite workmanship, the tops being of highly 
polished marble or great slabs of costly malachite, 
onyx or agate, and in each case most beautifully 
inlaid with artistic designs in mother-of-pearl, lapis 
lazuh, ivory and semi-precious stones of great variety, 
forming pictures of radiant beauty, and while they 
are made of thousands of minute particles, they are 
so artisticially inlaid and joined that the eye cannot 
detect the line of cleavage between them. 

May 9. — After a morning spent in shopping, the 
afternoon was devoted to a visit to the Pitti palace, 
and an inspection of this occasional residence of the 
King of Italy, whenever his official perambulations 
bring him within the precincts of Florence. It is 
open on Thursdays to visitors, and its numerous 
rooms are furnished with a splendor and adorned with 
a wealth of paintings, statuary and tables that are 
dreams of beauty, and frescoes that chain the eye 
and stimulate the imagination. The palace has a 
history of some six hundred years behind it, and was 
built by a wealthy and ambitious merchant named 
Luca Pitti, who sought to drive the Medicis from 
power; though temporarily successful he was later 
overthrown by them. It is built of stone, many of 
the blocks of an immense size, even as much as twenty 
to twenty-five feet in length, and has a frontage of 
the main building of nearly six hundred feet, with a 
height of forty feet in each of its three stories. In the 
afternoon we took the street cars, crossed the Arno, 



128 

and ascended to the summit of a steep hill whereon 
stands the old monastery of Certosini. A monk in 
white robes and long white beard, who looked as if he 
might be a contemporary of Christopher Columbus, 
and with a most benign and peaceful cast of counten- 
ance, guided us through the many rooms and winding 
halls of the old stone building. On the walls were 
many ancient frescoes, showing the ravages of time, 
angels with broken wings and mutilated faces, saints 
with torn robes, crippled legs and short one eye, were 
scattered about in reckless profusion. After viewing 
the curiosities and mysteries of the old rookery we 
were led to the sales room and turned over to the 
mercies of the vendors of postal cards, perfumeries 
and sundry kinds of wines and cordials alleged to be 
made on the premises by the monks, with the sug- 
gestion that we make liberal purchases. The view 
from the hill and balcony of the monastery is fine and 
expansive, though not equal to that from Fiesole. 

May 10. — Rested all day preparatory to starting 
for Venice to-morrow morning. 

May 11. — Got an early morning start for Venice. 
After an hour or so the country became hilly and 
mountainous, and we gradually ascended the moun- 
tains through a series of ninety tunnels, crossing the 
Reno River some eighteen or twenty times. The 
country looked fresh and beautiful, following recent 
spring rains, and gave evidence of a high state of cul- 
tivation. The weather was bright and almost too 
warm for comfort. The grapes here, as well as 
throughout all Northern Italy, are trained to run on 
trees, which are planted in rows, and the limbs, with 



129 

the exception of two or three leaders, are cut back 
closely. By this means the grape vines are carried 
in a trellis or arbor from tree to tree, and the leaves 
of the trees afford considerable protection to the 
grapes, from the heat of the summer's sun. We 
reached Bologna, where the train waited for half an 
hour, and then proceeded. An hour later the con- 
ductor came through the car as we reached Modena, 
and informed us we were on the way to Milan instead 
of Venice. We hustled off with our baggage and after 
an exciting and ludicrous interview with the ticket 
agent and a wait of two hours, took a return train to 
Bologna, and after another detention of half an hour, 
boarded the train to Venice, where we arrived about 
dusk, and paid four francs to a gondolier for steering 
us through a maze of winding and dirty canals and 
between rows of tall, blackened and begrimed build- 
ings, until at last we landed at the Casa Frolla hotel 
on La Guidecca Island. At Battaglia, before reach- 
ing Padua, on the way to Venice, there is to be seen 
on a high hill, the Chateau of Cattajo, which now 
belongs to the Duke of Modena. It is surrounded 
by very extensive grounds, the hillsides being cov- 
ered with a dense growth of forest trees and under- 
brush, amidst which could be seen a number of deer. 
The approach to Venice is made through a cause- 
way built across the lagoon and flanked on both sides 
by numerous small islets and by a bridge more than 
two miles in length, and having over two hundred 
arches. At Brentna station, a few miles before 
reaching Venice, there is a somewhat distant view of 
the Tyrolese Alps. Actualities are seldom painted 
with the filmy brush and iridescent colors of a dream, 
and so it is that while Venice is in a class entirely by 
1677—9 



130 

itself and is wonderful and curious beyond compare, 
the first impressions I gathered from our approach 
in the dull gloom of a tiresome day's journey did not 
meet my preconceived ideas of the beauty and grand- 
eur of its marble palaces, the clear and limpid waters 
of its multiphed canals and the gaily decorated gon- 
dolas with the musical and interesting personalities 
of their gondoliers of which I had heard and read so 
much. Perhaps a night of restful slumber within the 
precincts of this historic old palace, notwithstanding 
its mildewed walls and musty atmosphere, will be- 
get a refreshing and renewed zeal in the sight-seeing 
of the week to come. 

May 12. — Boarded a little steamer this morning, 
fare one penny, and crossed the canal Delia Guidecca, 
landing at the Piazza di San Marco, a large open space 
paved with stone and forming the principal place of 
promenade for the people summer evenings and dur- 
ing festival occasions. Here are located the famous 
church of St. Mark and the Campanile, recently recon- 
structed and dedicated, the old one having fallen in 
1902 after standing since the tenth century. Cross- 
ing the square we entered the Palace of the Doges, 
and for hours stood in or walked through its multiple 
rooms and galleries, with their walls literally covered 
with historic paintings and their groined and lofty 
ceilings finished in gorgeous gilt or richly beautiful 
frescoes. 

As Ruskin says, "the multitude of works by vari- 
ous masters which cover the walls of this palace, is so 
great that the traveler is in general wearied and con- 
fused by them." The multiplicity of paintings cover- 
ing the same scriptural subject not only here in 



131 

Venice, but at Rome and Florence, is calculated to 
burden the mind and confuse the understanding 
with its monotony. The Madonna and Child, the 
Worship of the Magi, the Crucifixion, the Descent 
from the Cross, the Entombment of Christ, the Coro- 
nation of the Virgin, the Last Supper, the Virgin in 
Glory, the Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew, the 
Agony in the Garden, the Annunciation, St. John 
the Baptist, and numerous other biblical subjects are 
to be found in endless repetition wherever you enter 
an Italian gallery or church. 

In this respect the gallery of the Doges' Palace is in 
some degree relieved by its many paintings, having 
a distinct application to the momentous events in the 
history of Venice. From the Doges' Palace we took 
the steamer again for the Academy of Fine Arts and 
took a "time limit" view of its marvelous collection 
of pictures and frescoes arranged along the walls of 
twenty or more large rooms or galleries. While at 
the Doges' Palace we crossed the famous Bridge of 
Sighs, which is a comparatively insignificant structure 
connecting the palace with the former prison on the 
opposite side of a narrow canal. This evening the 
Piazza di San Marco was brilliantly illuminated by 
thousands of yellow and white electric lights covering 
the entire front of the buildings, and a band of seventy 
five pieces discoursed music until midnight. The 
square was thronged with people, principally of the 
poorer classes, and two things were particularly notice- 
able, one that rarely do you see a grown person and 
never a child wearing spectacles, and secondly, that 
the women over twenty-five years of age all show 
marked evidences of a life of hard work and early 
loss of youth and beauty. In traveling throughout 



132 

Italy in the country, the field and farm work is car- 
ried on by men and women side by side with no 
apparent discrimination. The weather has been 
beautifully balmy and springlike ever since the day 
following our arrival at Florence. Roses and other 
flowers are blooming in profusion and are as large and 
beautiful, though not in such unlimited quantitites as 
one sees in California. Referring again to the Palace 
of the Doges, it is interesting to note that it contains 
the largest picture ever painted on canvas. It is the 
"Glory of Paradise," by Tintoretto and is 84x24 feet. 

May 13. — This morning we visited the great church 
of St. Mark's. It was almost a relief to find that there 
is but one oil painting in the entire building and that 
is of no particular consequence, but the marvelous 
and all pervading display of mosaics is something 
far beyond anything we have yet seen, and they 
cover forty-six thousand square feet of space. The 
church is filled with columns and statues and altars 
and floors of marble from almost every then known 
quarry in the world. It is filled with rare and beau- 
tiful specimens and articles of porphyry, jasper and 
verd-antique stolen in the days of Venetian com- 
mercial supremacy from Tyre, Greece, Constanti- 
nople and Egypt. There is a golden altar piece that 
was stolen from Constantinople which is wrought on 
plates of gold, and is lavishly set with pearls and 
precious stones of every description. There are four 
fluted columns of alabaster said to have belonged 
to Solomon's Temple and stolen from Palestine in the 
days of Venetian power. An alleged chair of St. 
Mark and part of the skull of St. John, to say noth- 
ing of a piece of the true cross and a crystal vase 



133 

containing some of the Saviour's blood, are among the 
much prized treasures of the church. Altogether it is 
one of the most interesting places we have yet seen. 
In the afternoon we took passage on a small steamer 
for the island of Lido or Malamocco, which is a 
fifteen minutes ride out toward the open Adriatic 
Sea and where there are numerous fine hotels, hand- 
some grounds, entrancingly beautiful flower gardens, 
a long, sandy, sloping beach and a great bathing 
pavilion. Notwithstanding the earliness of the 
season, many people of both sexes were disporting 
themselves in the surf without apparent discomfort. 

May III-. — We are having balmy spring weather 
such as even CaHfornia in beautiful May need not be 
ashamed of. It is perfect for sightseeing and we are 
making the most of it in this quaint, unique old city, 
with its one hundred and fifty canals and four hun- 
dred bridges; with its innumerable picturesque and 
graceful gondolas; with its so-called marble palaces, 
rising sheer from the water's edge, once possibly 
handsome as well as substantial, but now corroded, 
blackened and disfigured by the united action of time 
and weather; with its narrow and crooked lanes pre- 
sumptuously called streets, many of which can be 
spanned from wall to wall with outstretched arms 
and with its funny little shops and stores scarcely 
larger than an American kitchen, filled to their 
utmost capacity with everything from second hand 
bottles to the most exquisite handiwork in Venetian 
glass and mosaics. In no place as yet have we found 
sightseeing less fatiguing, more surprising and clothed 
with greater charm than in this bridal city of the 
Adriatic. We spent the morning stroUing again 



134 

through the always beautiful interesting and instruct- 
ive corridors and auditorium of St. Mark's Church, 
and about the shops dickering with the ever eager 
merchants for pictures and beads and the ever ubiqui- 
ous postal cards. In the afternoon through, the 
medium of a delightful gondola ride we landed at the 
Island of Murano, the home of the celebrated Venetian 
glassworks, and witnessed not only the process of 
manufacture, but the wonderful collection of mirrors, 
chandeliers, glassware and mosaics of every descrip- 
tion. 

May 15. — Took a boat this morning and for two 
cents apiece rode the whole length of the Grand Canal 
and return. Boat riding is about the only cheap 
thing here. Seeing some nice looking prunes in a 
shop window, I was reminded of home and beset with 
a desire to taste them, so I went in and bought a 
pound and almost had a case of heart failure when I 
was required to cough up forty cents for them. The 
afternoon was used up in strolling among the shops of 
various kinds. The history of Venice is an entranc- 
ing romance filled with incidents that illustrate the 
ever recurring lights and shadows of prosperity and 
disaster, fulfilment and destruction of human hopes, 
ambitions and efforts. Her foundation more than 
fifteen hundred years ago amid the islands and 
lagoons of the Adriatic, was the act of a plundered 
and despairing people driven from their prosperous 
homes on the mainland by the scourging incursions 
of Alaric and his Visigoths, followed by the atrocious 
Attila and his butchering cohorts of Huns. Begin- 
ning their new abode with humble mud huts and 
finding a modest subsistence in their occupation as 



135 

fishermen, their gradual evolution into a community 
of sailors whose vessels boldly launched out upon the 
surrounding waste of waters and carried their dis- 
coveries and their commerce to the remotest ports 
and peoples of the Mediterranean, continued uninter- 
ruptedly during the period of gradual disintegration 
and overthrow of the Western Roman Empire. For 
more than five centuries the commercial power and 
importance of Venice gradually expanded until the 
era of the Crusades brought them new power and 
increased wealth. Possessing the most numerous 
fleet they became the medium of transport for the 
crusading hosts to the Holy Land and with the aid of 
the French Crusaders conquered Constantinople 
about the year 1200 and added largely to their pos- 
sessions. One hundred and fifty years later a return- 
ing swing of the pendulum deprived them of all this 
territorial gain, only to be again recovered and greatly 
enhanced by a series of conquests lasting to the close 
of the fifteenth century. From this time her glory 
and power began to fade, the first heavy blow to her 
commerce being the Portuguese discovery of the new 
route to India around the Cape of Good Hope. Dis- 
astrous wars with the Turks followed and finally 
the all-conquering Napoleon took possession and the 
last of the Doges laid aside the Ducal bonnet, just 
eleven hundred years after the election of his first 
predecessor. The city was looted by the French and 
despoiled of her jewels, paintings, statues and manu- 
scripts, including the rich and historic treasures which 
Venice herself in the height of her buccaneering 
exploits had wrested from Egypt, Greece, Palestine 
and Turkey. 



136 

May 16. — Boarded an excursion boat from St. 
Mark's for Chioggio, an island about eighteen miles 
south of Venice. The weather was pleasant and the 
trip very interesting. On one side is the Laguna Viva, 
or live lagoon, a shallow stretch of water with here 
and there a small patch of green or a yellow sand bar, 
barely showing its naked body above the water line. 
On the other side you pass a continuing series of 
fully developed islands, some of them small and 
round, with only a few acres, and others such as Mala- 
mocco, Palestrina and Chioggia are each several 
miles in length but at most points only a few hundred 
yards wide. Each one of these islands contains a 
village or town, the houses being of ancient and 
quaint design, and not a new house has been built or 
an old one repaired for at least three hundred years. 
The trip to Chioggia consumed two hours, and an 
hour elapsed between the arrival and departure of the 
boat, so that we had opportunity to stroll through 
the town and look at the beautiful women, for which 
the misleading and imaginative guide book says it has 
long been noted. We looked into one or two of the 
numerous churches and found them, as usual, deco- 
rated with paintings and mosaics, and with images of 
Christ on the cross in every niche and corner. The 
return trip landed us at our lodgings in time for dinner. 

May 17. — Began raining in the early morning and 
continued until noon with a very cold wind, and when 
it cleared off in the afternoon the mountains were 
displayed with their sides covered halfway down with 
fresh snow. 

May 18. — Wandered around the city during the 
morning, and in the afternoon started out to find the 



137 

church of Santa Maria Formosa. Securing a general 
direction, we walked through numerous narrow and 
winding streets or alleys lined with shops of all descrip- 
tions and fairly teeming with thousands of people; 
crossed numerous bridges, entered wrong churches, 
butted up against closed walls and were compelled to 
change our course and seek other outlets, but finally, 
after an hour or more, were directed to the right place. 
The church was built the same year that Columbus 
discovered America. It had the usual number of 
altars, the multiplied images of the crucifixion and the 
usual marble floor. A number of paintings adorned 
its walls, only one of which possessed any particular 
merit and that was Vecchio's Santa Barbara and 
Saints. Leaving the church we again lost our direc- 
tion and finally, after more prospecting through 
devious and winding thoroughfares, we came out at 
the Rialto bridge, some two miles from our starting 
point. After returning by boat to St. Mark's Square 
we visited the public library, where are to be found 
many magnificent specimens of illuminated books, 
handsomely bound in leather, ivory and brass, and 
dating back to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. 
Also a notable collection of early autographs and 
maps. We also went through the various rooms of 
the King's Palace, but found them not so elegant or 
interesting as the one at Florence. 

May 19. — Did not go out until noon and then 
simply took another stroll through the galleries of the 
Palace of the Doges and the Cathedral of St. Mark. 
The allegation that the body of St. Mark is buried in 
the shrine of the cathedral is founded upon a legend 
that three seamen of a Venetian ship lying in the 



138 

harbor of Alexandria conceived the project of steal- 
ing the body from the tomb, replacing it with another 
body, carrying it aboard ship and sailing for Venice. 
With the aid and connivance of the guardian of the 
tomb this was accomplished, and the thieves were 
welcomed with great ceremony and thanksgiving by 
the Venetian clergy and thenceforward St. Mark 
became the patron saint of Venice. One hundred and 
fifty years later, in the midst of civil strife, the cathe- 
dral of St. Mark was burned and all knowledge of the 
location of the body of the patron saint was lost for 
more than one hundred years. When the new cathe- 
dral was ready for consecration and after a solemn 
fast and procession, a great light shone from a pillar 
near the altar, part of the masonry fell away, the 
body was found and the joy and thanksgiving of the 
people was universal. More than seven hundred 
years after, that is about a century ago, the alleged 
body was rediscovered in a marble tomb in the crypt. 
If you have any doubt about the truth or authenticity 
of the above statement, I can prove it by reference 
to any pious and patriotic native of the Queen City of 
the Adriatic. 

May 20. — Left our hotel in Venice this morning via 
gondola and wound our way amidst the intricacies of 
numerous narrow canals, congested to the limit with 
hundreds of gondolas, to the railway station, where 
we took the train for Milan. The country was on 
dress parade, clothed in its freshest and fairest of 
spring garments. On every hand were evidences of 
industry and the highest state of cultivation. Or- 
chards, vineyards, gardens and meadows, sweet with 
the odor of new mown hay, joined each other in end- 



139 

less succession. Not an inch of ground was wasted 
and a most complete system of irrigation, sustained 
by the generous allowance from numerous mountain 
streams, rendered the farmer independent of drouth. 
We passed through Padua, one of the oldest towns in 
Italy, dating back to the days immediately following 
the fall of Troy; then through Vicenza, Mantua and 
Verona, the latter beautifully situated upon the 
River Adige, a clear, swift mountain stream, and the 
reputed scene of the amours of Romeo and Juliet. 
Next comes Brescia with its silk, woolen and linen 
manufactories, but halfway between Verona and 
Brescia we skirt the southern end of Lake Garda, the 
largest of the Italian lakes and lying like a superb 
sapphire amidst its emerald surroundings at the foot 
of the Eastern Alps. We reached Milan at 3 o'clock 
in the afternoon and took up our quarters at the 
Hotel du Nord, near the railway station. After 
dinner we took the street cars to the great cathedral, 
the grace and beauty of whose numberless spires and 
carvings and statues I shall not, through very poverty 
of expression, attempt to describe. In the presence 
of such a structure adjectives are without force and 
superlatives are unavailing. 

May 21. — Spent all the morning in a delightful 
inspection of the wonders within the walls of the great 
cathedral. No preconceived ideas of its vastness or 
of the infinity of detail in its construction are com- 
mensurate with its actuality. To receive any in- 
telligent conception, one must have personal vision. 
During our stay we had the good fortune to witness a 
very elaborate church service which was participated 
in by thirty or forty priests and by the cathedral 



140 

choir. For a fee of one franc each we were shown the 
Treasury which contains two full length statues in 
solid silver of St. Ambrose and San Carlo, together 
with the smaller statues of gold and a great number of 
solid silver crosses and candelabra ornamented with 
precious stones of every variety. The stained glass 
windows of the cathedral are enriched with scenes 
that represent almost every incident of historical 
note in both the old and new testaments. After sev- 
eral hours spent in the body of the church we climbed 
the stairway to the roof of the main building, crossed 
the roof to the main tower and ascended an almost 
interminable winding staircase to the top, whence 
one could look down upon the innumerable spires and 
statues that crowned the vast edifice. Unfortunately 
the atmosphere was very foggy and smoky and the 
view was limited to the city and its immediate sur- 
roundings. Leaving the cathedral we visited the 
church of Santa Maria del Grazie, in the refectory of 
which is the original of Leonardi da Vinci's famous 
picture of the last supper. The picture is dreadfully 
marred by time and rough usage and having been 
retouched several times by indifferent artists, prob- 
ably bears but little resemblance to the original. 
Later in the afternoon we took a "circumvallatione" 
car and made a circuit of the entire city. 

May 22. — A heavy shower which began last night 
continued throughout the forenoon and our plans for 
a trip to Lake Como were therefore deferred. In 
the afternoon we made another visit to the great 
cathedral and also to the King's Palace, where we 
were shown through room after room containing 
beautiful frescoes, tapestries and furniture, together 



141 

with numerous marble busts of Napoleon by Canova 
and other great sculptors. We also visited La Scala, 
the great theatre or opera house, said to be with the 
exception of San Carlo at Naples, the largest theatre 
in Europe, with five tiers of boxes around the whole 
auditorium, each box having a dressing room, and the 
entire theatre having a seating capacity of thirty-six 
hundred people, with a stage one hundred and fifty 
feet deep. 

May 23. — Left this morning for Como, reaching 
there in one hour and immediately boarded the boat 
for a trip down the lake as far as Menaggio ; thence 
by cars we crossed to Porlezza on Lake Lugano; 
thence down Lake Lugano to the town of the same 
name, where we took the cars for the return trip to 
Como and Milan, reaching the latter place in time for 
dinner. The beauty of the scenery along both lakes 
reminds one in many respects of Lake George. Sur- 
rounded on all sides by lofty and picturesque moun- 
tain peaks reaching precipitously to the water's edge 
and clothed to their very summits in garments of 
richest green, with numerous villages hugging the 
shores and the hillsides dotted in all directions with 
cottages and summer hotels and the clear green 
waters of the lakes flecked with steamboats and 
pleasure craft, a picture of rare beauty is painted upon 
the face of nature. Throughout the whole trip from 
Milan and return I have noted the almost total 
absence of domestic animals; no horses, cattle, sheep 
or even goats being in evidence along the route, 
although everywhere you see the farmers cutting and 
raking their small patches of hay, creating the sup- 
position that there is something besides human 
animals to be fed. 



142 

Our tour of Italy is practically finished as we leave 
Milan for Geneva to-morrow morning. The local 
differences in Italy are perhaps more marked than in 
any other country in Europe in the sphere of manners, 
customs, daily life and domestic economy. While 
each individual province or state portrays marked 
distinctions of character and temperament, the great 
and general differences are marked and bounded geo- 
graphically into Southern and Northern Italy. The 
South is given over almost exclusively to agriculture 
and poverty. The North is largely inudstrial, full 
of activity, absorbent of modern progressive ideas 
and from a European standpoint reasonably pros- 
perous. Politics and patriotism are live issues in the 
North, while apathy and indifference cast a blight 
over the South. While more than fifty per cent of 
the population of Sicily and Naples is illiterate, the 
average in the northern provinces is only about fifteen 
per cent. 

In criminality, also, the difference is even greater, 
the statistics showing that while the murders in the 
south average from twenty-five to thirty in each one 
hundred thousand of population, the northern prov- 
inces average only two and one-half to three and to 
our detriment and warning it must be remarked 
that the bulk of our now enormous Italian immigra- 
tion comes from the southern provinces, where is 
found the home of the Mafia and the Camorra. 

Northern Italians look with more or less contempt 
upon their southern brethren and this is returned by 
a full reciprocity of jealousy bordering on hate by 
the latter. For hundreds of years prior to the 
national unification of Italy, each province, and in 
many instances, each city and town maintained a 



143 

sort of individual independence and hedged itself 
about with its own local manners, customs, and occu- 
pations; developed its own political system, difTer- 
entiated its own social life and in fact was a little 
world in itself. Even now many of the inhabitants 
of the smaller towns have little knowledge of what is 
transpiring outside their own walls and care less. 

All these differences are more or less incidental to a 
diversity of dialects that exist in the various prov- 
inces, as well as to a diversity in the local forms of 
government under which the different localities have 
from time to time existed, varying from the most 
liberal democracy to the most crushing tyranny. Not- 
withstanding all these differences and the contrast of 
interests that characterize the different sections of the 
country, it would be hard to find any considerable 
number of Italians from the toe of the boot to its 
northernmost strap, who would listen for one moment 
to any proposition for a divided nationality. The 
standard of living in Italy is on so low a level as 
to challenge the credulity of the average American 
employer who has been subjected to the arbitrary 
demands of our foreign controlled labor unions. 
Skilled labor finds its compensation for ten or twelve 
hours of drudgery in a sum ranging from what in our 
currency would be twenty-five cents to one dollar. 
Farm and orchard laborers receive from sixteen to 
thirty cents in Central and Northern Italy, while in 
the south it more often ranges from ten to fifteen 
cents. Of course, with such a compensation the 
daily diet is necessarily of the simplest and most 
frugal character. That of the laboring classes con- 
sists almost wholly of wheat or corn bread, vegetables 
and fruit, but meat is seldom tasted except on rare 



144 

feast days. The very general consumption of 
"polenta" a preparation of maize, is alleged to be the 
cause of the widespread skin disease, pellagra. Pov- 
erty and wealth are not so apt to be restricted to 
separate localities in the cities and towns, as is often 
the case in America. Associated millionaires are not 
communistically gathered for residential purposes on 
Nob Hills and Fifth Avenues, but you will very fre- 
quently find pride and poverty, palaces and hovels in 
neighborly propinquity. Indeed, I am told that often 
a family of wealth will occupy with much ostentation 
one floor of a dwelling, while the upper or the base- 
ment floors may be filled with those who are strug- 
gling against the demands of the most grinding 
poverty and destitution. Considerable of our so- 
called progressive legislation of the Roosevelt- 
Johnson type is already in vogue in Italy. That 
phase of state socialism known as the employers' li- 
ability act obliges every employer to insure his 
employes against accident, and if any one of them 
is killed or totally disabled, even though it be occa- 
sioned by his own viciousness or carelessness, his 
family is paid a sum equal to five years wages in the 
first instance, or to an equivalent pension in the 
second instance. The people, even of the cities and 
towns, are much given to outdoor life. The streets 
and cafes or gardens are the resort of all classes, 
individually and in family groups. They resort 
there for light luncheon or drink and to discuss all 
questions of domestic or public importance. In fine 
weather half the sidewalk or street will be filled with 
tables in front of the cafes, where crowds gather to 
enjoy their moments of leisure. No attention seems 
to be paid to warmth or comfort in the Italian houses 



145 

of either a public or private character. There seems 
to be a legendary notion that Italy is a warm country, 
and at certain seasons there may be some truth in it, 
but in winter or early spring there are raw cold winds 
that send shivers up and down the foreign spine and 
for which the only refuge is to put on your heavy 
overcoat or go to bed and cover up. It reminds one 
of the old days in San Francisco, when there were no 
furnaces and few lighted grates and the hostess sat 
enveloped in heavy wraps while entertaining her 
half-frozen callers. 

The houses are of stone, the floors are of stone, and 
the absence of carpets renders contact with the bare 
feet in the early morning a peculiarly uncomfortable 
infliction. The franchise in Italy has property quali- 
fications, with some special exceptions in favor of 
veteran soldiers, government officials, university 
graduates, etc., but the totality of those entitled to 
its privileges does not exceed seven per cent of the 
total population, and of these not over fifty per cent 
on an average, avail themselves of the privilege. 

May 2Ii.. — Left Milan this morning for Geneva. 
Passed through a fine agricultural country, reaching 
Lake Maggiore, along whose level and uninteresting 
banks we rode for a number of miles, contrasting 
greatly with the beautiful scenery of Lakes Como and 
Lugano. From here our ascent was gradual but 
continuous, amidst increasing grandeur of scenery, 
to Iselle, where the train enters the Simplon tunnel, 
the longest work of its kind in the world, and for more 
than twelve miles speeds through this underground 
passage, seven thousand feet below the summit of 
the mountain. The train is conducted through by 
1677 — 10 



146 

electric power and the car windows are closed to keep 
out the heat. It emerges near Brigue, where you have 
magnificent views on either side of the snow-clad 
Wasserhorn and Spaarhorn. From here to Villeneuve, 
on Lake Geneva, the journey almost is one continu- 
ous recurrence of inspiring views, of snow-clad moun- 
tains, silvery cascades, dark and disagreeable tunnels, 
ancient castle ruins and picturesque Swiss villages 
streaking the hillsides and narrow valley of the Rhone, 
which stream has its beginning in the glacier of the 
same name near St. Gothard. From Villeneuve the 
railroad skirts the north shore of Lake Geneva, passing 
through Montreux, Vevey, Lausanne and sundry 
other towns and villages, composed for the most part 
of hotels, apartment houses, and pensions for the 
accomodation of tourists. Reaching Geneva the 
middle of the afternoon we found comfortable accom- 
modations, previously engaged, and readjusted our- 
selves for further sight-seeing. 

We have been met with extra charges for almost 
every conceivable thing all along the line of our jour- 
ney, but the hotel at Milan put over a new one on us 
by charging fifty centimes at each meal for the use of 
napkins. 

The great lake of Geneva spreads in a semi-crescent 
shape to the north and east, with its northern and 
southern shores defined in striking contrast. On 
the northern side are abrupt and sloping hillside 
pastures, flecked with green and pleasant groves, 
and stretching far back and ever up and beyond, 
through thick forests to the everlasting snow-clad 
peaks of the Jural Alps. 

From Lausanne to the eastern end of the lake, the 
level plains and gentle slopes of a less insistent rug- 



147 

gedness of topography are covered with a continuous 
succession of orchards and vineyards, interspersed 
with picturesque villages and hamlets. On the 
southern shore, however, the Savoyan Alps rise with 
sudden abruptness from the foreshortened foot-hills 
into gloomy, awe inspiring peaks, with their cheerless 
northern slopes turned from the sun's life-giving 
warmth, and hence appear in their arrested develop- 
ment of flower and foliage to belong to a different 
climatic zone. Geneva has been a noted lake ever 
since it was known as Lake Lemanus of the Romans, 
and has filled the theme of many a song and story. 
It is forty-five miles long, four to eight wide, and has 
its greatest depth, of one thousand feet, opposite 
Lausanne. Its deep blue waters have their sources 
in the hundreds of tiny rivulets that trickle down the 
sides of the towering snow-covered mountains at its 
eastern end, and in the melting snows and glaciers 
of the St. Gothard and Mont Blanc ranges, where the 
transparent Rhone and the murky Arve have their 
beginning. On the north shore, near the eastern end 
of the lake, is the Castle of Chillon, made famous by 
Byron's beautiful and imaginative poem. As the 
train passes, shortly after leaving Villeneuve, a fleet- 
ing view was had of the old castle prison, and its 
pyramidal and conical-top towers. It is built upon 
a rocky islet in the lake some fifty or seventy- 
five feet from shore, and is reached by an ancient 
bridge of quaint construction. When the castle was 
built, or by whom, is unknown, though its traditions 
date back more than a thousand years. 

May 25. — Rained with slight intermissions all day. 
Walked down town through the market and business 



148 

section. The buildings are substantial and mostly 
modern. The universal language is French. They 
have the least familiarity with the English tongue 
of any place we have yet visited, and it is much 
harder to make them, than it is an Italian, understand 
an American's wants. Many of the residences are 
surrounded by large grounds filled with large and 
beautiful trees and shrubbery. The black locust and 
horse chestnut are favorite trees, and are profusely 
filled at this time with blossoms. There are also 
many fine sycamores and oaks, with occasional elms 
and maples. In the parks they have a curious 
fashion of cutting off the tops of the sycamores and 
causing them to spread out somewhat after the manner 
of the Texas umbrella tree. In this connection I 
have noticed that throughout Italy nearly all the trees 
have been cut back repeatedly until they are robbed 
entirely of their natural beauty, presumably for the 
purpose of replenishing, from time to time, the family 
supply of fuel. Geneva, the home of Calvin, was 
long the Protestant stronghold of the continent, but 
gradually, year by year, mostly within the last cen- 
tury, the Roman Catholic immigration has increased 
until now they have a slight preponderance in num- 
bers, a fact that must be highly disturbing to the 
spiritual comfort of the great Protestant Reformer. 

May 26. — Cloudy in the morning, with a strong 
north wind bearing an icy blast from the mountain 
peaks. Walked down to the lake and through the 
small park known as Jardin Anglais. Lake Geneva 
is a most beautiful sheet of water, and with the 
rapidly stiffening breeze its vivid green surface was 
soon covered with a multitude of shining white-caps. 



149 

chasing and racing with each other like a school of 
mermaids out for a lark. In the afternoon crossed 
to the north side of the lake and went to Ariana Park 
and Museum. It being Whitsunday, the museum 
was closed, so we strolled through the park, where are 
kept a large number of deer of different varieties, 
some of them pure white, and where also are an 
Alpine and a Botanical Garden, alleged by the guide- 
books to be very fine, but did not impress us as com- 
paring favorably with many in America. 

May 27. — Strolled around town after breakfast; 
bought a New York Herald and came back to the 
house to read the political news from America. It 
would seem, in the light of the result of the Ohio 
primaries, that the people — at least the Republican 
portion of them — have lost their reason, and have 
been stampeded into a wild, insensate mob. The 
fact that a ranting, untruthful, egotistical dema- 
gogue like Roosevelt can command a majority of the 
votes in one of the most intelligent communities 
in the country, renders more than ever apparent, the 
fact that the most monumental humbug and folly 
fastened upon the American people is unrestricted, 
universal suffrage. It seems evident that the Repub- 
lican party is hopelessly divided and Democratic 
success assured. 

This afternoon we drifted down to the point of 
junction of the Rhone and Arve Rivers, which occurs 
a short distance below where the former leaves Lake 
Geneva. It is called the union of the blue and the 
gray, from the fact that the water of the Rhone is 
clear as crystal and of a bluish tint, while the Arve 
is full of muddy sediment of a light gray color. From 



150 

this point we crossed a bridge over the Arve and 
ascended a steep hill through a beautiful shady grove, 
and from the summit beheld a most entrancing view 
of the entire city of Geneva and the surrounding moun- 
tains. Later we entered a gasoline launch on the 
lake and rode to the Pare Mon Repos, fronting on 
the lake bank and containing a wealth of roses and 
other flowers, together with many varieties of magnif- 
icent trees, forming altogether a picture such as the 
pencil of artist never succeeded in painting. From 
here we expected a fine view of Mont Blanc, but were 
defeated by the clouds. 

May 28. — Made a trip to the Saleve for the pur- 
pose of getting a view of Mont Blanc. In doing this 
we took the electric tramway from Cours de Rive to 
Vernier, and from thence a rack and pinion railway 
to the top of the mountain. The Saleve is an abrupt 
hill or mountain of limestone rock rising to the height 
of over four thousand feet, and is just across the Swiss 
border in French territory. As you ascend from the 
valley in a serpentine course the view gradually 
broadens and becomes more and more beautiful. 
The city of Geneva, with its shaded grounds and 
attractive homes, lies at your feet, the blue expanse 
of the greatest of Swiss lakes glistens in the sun, 
dotted here and there with excursion steamers, gaso- 
line launches darting swiftly about like so many fire- 
flies, and sail-boats and row boats of all sizes and 
descriptions. For miles the winding and disreput- 
able current of the River Arve can be traced to its 
marriage with the beautiful and unstained Rhone, 
and then as each higher step is taken in the ascent, 
mountain after mountain, and range succeeding 



151 

range, come into view, until the horizon is bounded 
and the view hmited on all sides by distant snow- 
capped summits. Half way up the hill is a com- 
paratively level tract, the site of a small village and 
sundry diminutive farm and garden plats, with here 
and there a luxuriant meadow of red-top and clover, 
and the uncultivated spots are covered with a thick 
growth of hazel-brush, interspersed with dwarf oaks, 
black locusts and European linden. At the end of 
the route is found the inevitable Swiss restaurant, 
where a glass of cold lager or a bottle of sour wine 
awaits the thirsty traveler. The view from the sum- 
mit is one of surpassing grandeur, though at first we 
were disappointed to find the face of Mont Blanc 
hidden behind the clouds. An hour later, however, 
just before time for our return, the silvery veil was 
hfted and the face of Europe's highest and most noted 
mountain peak was exposed to our longing gaze. 
The world has sung its praises, and it is little less 
than treason not to join in its enthusiastic refrain, 
but truth compels me to admit that in majesty and 
grandeur it at least does not excel our own Mount 
Ranier, Mount Shasta, nor several of the most noted 
peaks in Colorado. However, we expect to get a 
nearer and better view when we visit Chamonix, 
and are told that our opinion will undergo a radical 
change. 

May 29-30-31. — Spent such time as the frequent 
showers of rain would permit in strolling around town 
and exploring the many beautiful and sequestered 
nooks and enclosures in the suburbs. 

June 1. — Between morning showers visited the 
railroad station for information as to departure of 



152 

boat and trains for Interlaken, and in the afternoon 
strolled over to Pare aux Vives, along the lake 
shore, where there is a small "zoo," beautiful trees, a 
fine restaurant and a Luna park copied on a small 
scale from the one at Coney Island, New York. 
Made plans for visiting Chamonix to-morrow, but 
the weather thickened up and a steady rain set in 
for the night, so we abandoned them. 

June 2. — Rained again to-day but visited the new 
Academy and Museum in the afternoon. The latter 
is located on the hill and is a fine modern building of 
white sandstone, and contains the city collection of 
antiquities, weapons and coins, collections of indus- 
trial art, Swiss uniforms, paintings and sculptures. 
About four miles from Geneva is the village of Ferney, 
which for the last twenty years of his life was the 
residence of that brilliant, erratic, mercurial and 
inconsistent stormy petrel of France, M. de Voltaire, 
the man whose writings laid the foundation for the 
social unrest and the fierce passions of the canaille, 
which brought about the bloody horrors of the 
French revolution. With a wit keen as a Damascus 
blade, a sarcasm that stung like an adder, and with 
an unlimited love and capacity for controversy, he 
kept Europe in general, and France in particular, in a 
state of continual social and political agitation. 
To-day the foe of imperial authority; to-morrow 
cringing and fawning before the king and his satellites 
for pecuniary and social favor; now writing a scur- 
rilous and indecent pamphlet denouncing religion 
and the church, and shortly after, begging permission 
of the Pope to dedicate one of his tragedies to his 
holiness. But Voltaire had a mission in life — the 



153 

freeing of mankind from arbitrary power, whether 
civil or religious — and with him the end was every- 
thing, the means inconsequential, and as he said, 
''What hope of freedom to speak in these times with- 
out the Royal indulgence." Twice incarcerated in 
the Bastile for his bold and indiscreet writings; com- 
pelled to flee Paris time and again to avoid the royal 
anger; driven from Prussia with the bitter resent- 
ment of his erstwhile friend, Frederick the Great, he 
was at last enabled to return to Paris amidst the shout 
and frenzy of the canaille, the welcome of the Acad- 
emy, the joy of the philosophers, the ecstacy of the 
drama and the fear of the court and church. 

A few weeks later his mortal remains were borne 
secretly from Paris for burial at Scelliers, from whence 
thirteen years later, by order of the National Assem- 
bly, they were borne back to Paris and buried with 
such universal acclamation and honors as had never 
before been accorded to a citizen of France. 

June 3. — Left for Chamonix this morning. 
Weather more or less cloudy and showery. The 
scenery along the route was very attractive and 
opened to our vision many densely wooded mountain 
sides, snow-clad peaks and beautiful waterfalls. 
The perpendicular leap of the cascade at Oex is so 
great that much of the water floats off in mist before 
reaching the bottom. Villages and chalets, or farm- 
houses, tattoo the landscape and hillsides in every 
direction. Reached Chamonix shortly after noon, 
had lunch, and after some hesitation decided not to 
go up the rack and pinion railway to Mer de Glace, 
as the weather was too cloudy to see Mont Blanc, 
but instead took the train to Les Tines and thence 



154 

climbed a winding mountain trail through a forest of 
great beauty to the Chapeau, a point that overlooks 
the Mer de Glace. Here we saw and stood upon 
the edge of thi^ great glacier, whose melting ice forms 
one of the main sources of the River Arve. In a few 
minutes after our arrival it began to rain and we 
retraced our steps halfway down the mountain until 
we reached a small hotel, where we had dinner and 
stopped for the night. 

June Jj.. — Awakened at 4.30 a. m., and looking out 
the windows found that the storm had passed and 
the atmosphere was clear and pure. A glance at the 
mountains, and there, in all its white-robed glory, 
piercing the sky with its many pointed needles and 
minarets, stood one of nature's grandest temples, 
Mont Blanc. The moon, with her pale silvery light, 
capped the top-most needle and cast a fading and 
deathly pallor over the face of the mountain, as she 
fled from the first burning glance of the sun, who had 
just awakened and was rubbing his lustrous eyes 
preparatory to taking up his daily rounds. In a few 
moments there began to steal over the face of the 
mountain's higher pinnacles a delicate shade of purple, 
gradually ripening into a glowing pink, and fascinat- 
ing the eye with its almost unearthly beauty. For 
only a few moments did this evanescent glory last, 
and then as the sun mounted higher in its course the 
colors faded and the whole broad breast of the moun- 
tain became a dazzling sheet of white, scarcely less 
beautiful than before. The surrounding peaks, of 
inferior though still majestic height, soon caught the 
glow and became masses of burnished silver, con- 
trasting beautifully with the deep green of the pines 



155 

on the lower slopes, while the valley, with her scatter- 
ing villages, was hidden in a thin, dreamy veil of 
silvery fog, which a little later, kissed by the morning 
breeze, drifted gracefully and lazily up the canon and 
disappeared from view. Feeling the full inspiration 
of the scene we again, with zealous steps, climbed the 
mountain path to a point where we could look down 
upon the full-lengthed mass of the Mer de Glace and 
the valley below, more than five thousand feet, and 
at last regretfully, with downward steps, returned to 
the hotel for breakfast. After breakfast we took 
our way down the mountain trail again to Les Tines, 
where w^e boarded the upward train for Argentieres, 
only a. few minutes ride, from which point we also 
had a grand view of the mountains and of the Glacier 
d'Argentieres. Returning by the train to Chamonix, 
we looked about the town for a couple of hours and 
left for Geneva, arriving at our hotel in time for 
dinner. 

June 5. — Left Geneva for Interlaken. Took the 
boat at 9 a. m., and after a delightful ride up Lake 
Geneva to Montreux we left the boat for an electric 
train, which immediately upon leaving begins the 
ascent of the mountain and gradually winds its way 
back and forth in making the ascent, affording some 
of the most charming and picturesque views of the 
lake and the surrounding country one could well 
imagine. Not only the shores of the lake, but the 
green and beautiful hillsides are everywhere sprinkled 
with villages, hotels and pensions for the accommoda- 
tion of tourists during both summer and winter 
months. In fact, the whole of Switzerland is appar- 
ently given over in these days of wealth and leisure to 



156 

the entertainment of the world's fortunate multitude 
who come here to spend their money and enjoy the 
climate and scenery of this most contented little 
Republic. 

At Zweisimmen we changed from the electric to the 
steam cars and after crossing another divide reached 
the Lake of Thun, and skirting closely the bank of 
this little gem for its full length, reached Interlaken 
shortly before dark and took up our quarters at the 
Hotel Rugenpark. 

June 6. — From our bedroom window we look out 
upon the Jungfrau, but on arising this morning it was 
obscured by clouds, which gradually drifted away, 
and about 11 o'clock left the massive snow-bound 
heights exposed to full view. It is a beautiful pic- 
ture, but from this point, at least, not nearly so 
impressive as Mont Blanc. Interlaken not only in 
itself, but in its scenic surroundings, is a most attrac- 
tive place. Like all other Swiss towns, it is made up 
of hotels, pensions and small shops. Swiss wood 
carving, in all sorts of fantastic and beautiful designs, 
is much in evidence. We visited the Kursaal, a 
beautiful restaurant and beer garden surrounded 
by ornamental grounds with profusion of flowers, and 
listened to a concert by a band of fifty pieces, after 
which we took a carriage and drove for an hour 
through the town and to Lake Briens. After dinner 
we took a walk through a dense forest of beech and 
pine to the caf^ Unspunnen, on a commanding emi- 
nence, from which a fine view of the Jungfrau, Lake 
Briens and surrounding mountains is had. The 
glittering dome of the Jungfrau towers, in its loftiness, 
amid the clear, crisp atmosphere, and lower down its 



157 

sides the crapy and vapory clouds glide past like 
avant-couriers presaging the coming of the hosts 
that follow the storm king from his lair in the deep, 
dark canons. 

June 7. — Took the boat on Lake Thun and landed 
at Beatus Hohlen, from whence we ascended by foot- 
path to the main road, and from thence on up along- 
side the beautiful cascade of Beattenbach. This con- 
sists of a succession of falls, from one bench to another, 
until the stream, with a final plunge, reaches the lake. 
After an ascent of perhaps a thousand feet from the 
boat landing we entered the so-called Wet Grotto, 
being a cave which by a winding and upward channel 
penetrates the bowels of the mountain for a distance 
of a mile and a quarter. The Beattenbach courses 
its way through the grotto the entire distance with 
alternate musical murmuring and deafening roar. 
Here and there the walls and floor of the grotto 
are interspersed with small stalactites and stalag- 
mites, not in any way comparable either in size 
or beauty with those to be found in Luray or Mam- 
moth caves in America. Adjoining the wet grotto 
is a small cave called the dry grotto in which St. 
Beattus is said to have lived, and which for many 
centuries was a much frequented resort for pilgrims. 
The saint's grave is just outside the grotto, and a life- 
size image of him, seated at his table poring over the 
scriptures, is within. We returned to Interlaken 
on the boat in the midst of a heavy rain storm that 
lasted during the night, but will, if the weather 
permits, visit Lauterbrunnen and Murren tomorrow. 

June 8. — Cloudy and threatening this morning, 
and therefore trip to Lauterbrunnen postponed. 



158 

Spent the time wandering around town among the 
stores and dodging the frequent showers. Every- 
where one travels through these Swiss mountains, 
whether by rail or on foot, one is almost constantly 
in sight of isolated log or frame cabins, ranging from 
the lower mountain reaches to points far up toward 
timber line. In the spring, as soon as the snows have 
melted on the lower hillsides and the fresh grass and 
foliage begin to give color to the landscape, the thrifty 
Swiss peasant releases his cattle from their long 
winter confinement, and driving them in procession 
up the winding and rough mountain trails, halts at 
the lower pastures, making his temporary abiding 
place in one of these rude cabins, and then, as the 
season advances, moving higher and higher up, his 
cows fattening their sleek sides upon the succulent 
grasses and wild flowers, until the late autumn's chill 
and nipping frost warns him to again seek the valley's 
protection. 

June 9. — Rained hard nearly all day. In the after- 
noon, during a short intermission, climbed a high hill 
near by and had a comprehensive view of the town, 
the lakes and the flat meadow between. This town 
seems to be one of the head- centres for the manu- 
facture, display and sale of wood-carving, much of it 
of very exquisite design and showing great delicacy of 
touch. One of the favorite subjects is the brown bear, 
which is carved in all sorts of attitudes, designs and 
sizes, from an inch in length to full natural size. If 
our Teddy should secure the Presidential nomination, 
it might mean a season's prosperity for the merchants 
of this community. While the "going" dialect at 
Geneva and Chamonix was French, here it is German . 



159 

June 10. — This morning took a trip to Lauter- 
brunnen and the famous Staubbach and Trummel- 
bach falls, the former nine hundred and eighty feet in 
height and the latter, fed by the glaciers of the Jung- 
frau, descending with great violence and noise in five 
falls through a narrow, spiral and almost perpendicular 
gorge. To describe this trip, however, is but in large 
measure a repetition of previous descriptions ol Swiss 
scenery. It would only mean more adjectives, more 
superlatives, more rushing streams, silvery cataracts, 
grassy slopes, dense forests, many-colored wild 
flowers, quaint Swiss chalets, endless hotels and pen- 
sions, towering cliffs and snow-clad summits. At 
one time on the way to Trummelbach, twelve distinct 
cataracts were in sight on both sides of the canon. 
We did not go up on the cable and electric railway to 
Murren because the mountain summits were so ob- 
scured by clouds as to render a good view of the range 
impossible. 

June 11. — Left Interlaken this morning by cars; 
changed at Brienz, the next station, to a boat and 
rode the full length of Lake Brienz to Meiringen, 
where we again changed to the cars and where our 
hand luggage was unceremoniously seized, weighed 
and transferred to the baggage car after paying what 
they termed excess baggage charges. It seems the 
railroad baggage allowance in Switzerland, free of 
charge, is only twenty-two pounds per person, 
although this is the first time the rule has been en- 
forced on us. Leaving Meiringen we begin the ascent 
by cog and pinion railway, of the Brunig Pass, again 
opening to our view as we ascend, a scene that would 
be of rare beauty anywhere but in this ever beautiful 



160 . 

Switzerland. As we reach the summit of the pass at 
Brunig — altitude thirty-three hundred feet — to the 
south rise the snow-capped peaks of the Engelhorn 
and the Faulhorn chains, and below us lies the green 
and peaceful valley of Meiringen, with its little farms 
and fields laid off, and each one surrounded by a stone 
wall, giving the effect, at that height, of a table-top 
inlaid with different colored mosaics. Descending 
on the north side of the pass, in two and one-half 
miles Lungern is reached after a descent of eight 
hundred feet, and the small lake of the same name is 
in view far below us. Descending still further to 
Giswill, the view to the south comprehends the 
Schwarzhorn chain and the three towering ever white 
and dazzling peaks of the Wetterhorn. Crossing the 
river Aa, and passing Sarnen lake and the Melchthal 
valley, we enter the broad valley of the Allmend, 
reach the southwest arm of Lake Lucerne, and in a 
few minutes more are in the city of the same name, 
where we found most comfortable quarters at the 
Pension Friedeau, situated on an eminence that over- 
looks the main portion of the city and commands an 
inspiring view of the surrounding mountains. 

June 12. — Spent most of the day walking about 
the streets of Lucerne, looking at the stores and 
strolling along the beautiful Avenue of Horse Chest- 
nuts, that fronts the lakeside. Visited also the 
famous Lion of Lucerne, modeled by Thorwaldsen 
and carved out of the solid rock by a Swiss artist 
named Ahorn. It was conceived and executed in 
memory of the officers and soldiers of the Swiss guard 
who fell in 1792 defending the palace of the Tuilleries 
from the mob of the French revolution. Spent an 



161 

hour in the afternoon Hstening to the music at the 
Kursaal. Lucerne is flanked on one side by the 
barren and rocky heights of Mount Pilatus, rising in 
almost perpendicular abruptness to its generally 
cloud-clapped altitude of nearly seven thousand feet, 
and on the other side by the more massive but less 
lofty and less repellant contour of Rigi. One of the 
imaginative and fondly cherished traditions of the 
people is that the name Pilatus, as attached to the 
name of the peak first mentioned, had its origin in 
the fact that Pontius Pilate, in a fit of remorse, came 
hither, and in the midst of his dejected wanderings 
committed suicide by drowning in the waters of 
Pilatus lake. Like numerous other Swiss mountains, 
the summit of Pilatus is made accessible by a cog 
and pinion railway of the boldest and most remark- 
able construction, the ascent at times verging upon 
an angle of forty-five degrees, and the average grade 
of ascent being forty-two feet in one hundred. There 
is a spacious plateau on top crowned by a magnificent 
hotel, from whose roof every evening during the open 
season, a strong search -light reveals the restless 
crowd of promenaders in the city of Lucerne far 
below. Though Pilatus and the Rigi are not high 
mountains, as mountains go in Switzerland, their 
popularity and scenic importance are emphasized by 
the fact that they stand as sentinels guarding the 
northern frontier of the Alps, and from their summits 
the most expansive and far reaching views are ob- 
tained in the direction of Basel and the German 
frontier. 

June 13. — Rained hard and continuously all day 
long. There was nothing to do but remain indoors 
1677 — II 



162 

and ruminate on the beauties and the history of this 
wonderful little Republic. Switzerland has long been 
the theme of song and story. The historian, the 
poet and the traveler have each in turn contributed 
to the praise of its political, its heroic and its scenic 
grandeur. Myth and legend have been rife in paint- 
ing its people as the soul and embodiment of every 
patriotic instinct, the defenders of their hearthstones 
against the intrusions and the attacks of tyranny, 
and the upholders of republican principles against 
the monarchical sentiment of all Europe. And yet, 
for four hundred years there was scarcely a war of 
conquest waged on the continents in which Switzer- 
land did not furnish a corps of hireling soldiers in 
aid of one side or the other, and sometimes both. 
A Swiss guard perished in defence of the French 
monarch whose tyranny, corruption and licentious- 
ness brought about the French revolution. A Swiss 
legion bore the banners and followed the fortunes of 
Frederick the Great to victory or defeat. A Swiss 
contingent shared with the hireling Hessians in the 
efforts of Great Britain to prevent the establishment 
of American independence, and only within the last 
few years has the Swiss law forbidden the enlistment 
of Swiss citizens for foreign service. The fact is that 
while Switzerland is one continuous stronghold of 
almost impregnable mountains, and that the people 
living in these mountains naturally grow up in more 
or less isolated freedom and absorb independence of 
spirit and action, yet the country owes her unique 
freedom and autonomy to her geographical situation. 
It was Bismark, I think, who said that "Switzerland 
is a geographical expression." Surrounded by vari- 
ous Powers of competitive ambition and vastly 



163 

greater strength, she fills the function of a buffer in 
separating their respective frontiers, and finds her 
safety from absorption by reason of their political 
jealousies. The present-day stream of travelers and 
tourists, flowing with constant and ever-increasing 
current through her valleys and over her mountains, 
is working a marked change in the customs, habits 
and ambitions of the people. The simplicity of 
every-day life and the quaintness of immemorial 
customs are rapidly yielding, especially in the cities 
and towns, to the corrupting influences of foreign 
fashions. It is only in the country, on the out-of-the- 
way hillsides, and in remote villages that you find 
that ancient and uncorrupted type of living charac- 
teristic of the fading centuries. In some of these 
time-stained cottages you will find an old patriarch 
whose years have long out-numbered the scriptural 
limit, whose birth, as well as that of his father and 
grandfathers for many generations happened under 
the same roof, none of whom ever stepped foot upon 
foreign soil or yodled his native song hardly beyond 
the hearing of his own door-yard. 

June IJf. and 15. — Spent the time in strolling about 
the city, visiting stores and shops and prying into 
curious out-of-the-way nooks and corners. 

June 16. — Boarded the steamer on Lake Lucerne 
for a trip to Fluelen at the other end of the lake, 
passing on the way the villages of Weggis, Vitznau, 
Beckenried, Gersau, Treib, Brunnen and Tell's Platte. 
The trip is exceedingly interesting and picturesque. 
High mountain peaks surround the lake on all sides, 
and beautiful hotels give life and variety to the land- 



164 

scape. At Vitznau a rack and pinion railway- 
ascends to Rigi-Culm, an altitude of nearly six 
thousand feet. At Brunnen, also, a similar railway 
ascends to Axenstein about twenty-four hundred feet. 
At Tell's Platte is a ledge of rock on which stands 
Tell's chapel, erected upon the supposed spot where, 
according to Swiss myth, William Tell sprang out 
of Gessler's boat and escaped. After landing at 
Fluelen we took the road along the steep mountain 
side and walked back through Axenstrasse as far as 
Tell's Platte, where we again took the boat for 
Lucerne. 

June 17. — ^Very cloudy in the morning, so a con- 
templated trip to the Rigi-Culm was postponed. 
Spent the day wandering around the city and adja- 
cent hills. 

June 18. — Unfavorable for sight-seeing in the 
mountains. Visited the Kursaal in the morning 
and read the New York papers. It seems as if the 
spirit of socialism, anarchy and hell-bent determina- 
tion on the part of the mob to pull down the pillars 
that sustain the structure of constitutional govern- 
ment in America is developing with celerity and 
certainty. Roosevelt, with his passionate determina- 
tion to rule or ruin, is kindling fires that in his 
more sober moments he will be utterly unable to 
control. If nothing else, the history of the French 
revolution and the fate of his counterpart, Robes- 
pierre, should give him pause. 

June 19. — Took the boat on Lake Lucerne for 
Vitznau, a small town on the North shore of the 



165 

lake, where we took a cog and pinion railway for Rigi- 
Culm, or the summit of the Rigi mountain, nearly six 
thousand feet above sea level and forty-five hundred 
above Lake Lucerne. This mountain, or rather 
mountain group, is some thirty or forty miles in cir- 
cumference, lying between Lakes Lucerne and Zug. 
From Vitznau to the summit, by the windings of the 
railroad, is about four and one-half miles, and at 
almost every turn a new and more expansive view 
greets the eye. The side of the mountain to its very 
summits is clothed in the brightest and freshest of 
spring verdure, both of forest and meadow. The forest, 
on its lovrer slopes, comprises beech, chestnut, maple, 
oak, linden and several other varieties not familiar to 
me, and is underlaid with a thick growth of under- 
brush. Higher up the coniferous growth puts in a 
gradual appearance, until finally nothing but pines 
and firs are to be seen up to within two or three 
hundred feet of the summit, which is clothed only 
with a luxuriant growth of grass and wild flowers. 
Summer hotels are numerous along the line, and small 
farms, with an occasional orchard of apples, pears, 
cherries and cherry plums, are to be seen, while large 
and fine flavored strawberries are offered by the 
peasant women at about a cent apiece to the longing 
and hungry tourist. Near the summit is an immense 
hotel of four or five hundred rooms. Back of the 
hotel, and some forty or fifty steps above it, from the 
extreme summit, you look down a precipitous cliff, 
where, several thousand feet below and spreading far 
out to the north and west like an immense map in 
colors, is seemingly a level plain, spotted with lakes 
and villages, traversed by winding streams and orna- 
mented with tiny trees that look like small twigs stuck 



166 

in a flower bed. Turning to the east and following 
with the eye westwardly along the horizon, an expan- 
sive view of the snow covered chain of the Alps en- 
compasses the limit of vision. In almost endless 
succession many of the loftiest and most noted peaks 
declare their individuality and command the admira- 
tion to which their beauty and majesty entitle them. 
The splendid isolation of the Rigi-Culm gives an 
all-around view covering an expanse of territory three 
hundred miles in circumference. To the north, and 
far away, are Zurich and Basel, and even the outlines 
of the Black Forest. Lake Lucerne on the one side 
and Lake Zug on the other, far below, are like re- 
flecting mirrors in the sunshine. It is indeed a charm- 
ing and impressive view, which, so far as the natural 
scenery alone is concerned, can be duplicated or even 
surpassed at many points in the Rockies or Sierra 
Nevadas, but can find no counterpart in those fron- 
tier regions in the varied and attractive evidences of 
civilized comforts and luxury. 

June 20. — Loafed around all day; visited the Kur- 
saal and watched the reckless and foolish people lose 
their money at the gaming table, and lingered in the 
vain hope that some news of the doings and results of 
the Chicago convention might be proclaimed. We 
get the Paris edition of the New York Herald here the 
day following its publication, which is as near as we 
can come to keeping up w^ith the procession of politi- 
cal affairs in America. Looking out from the window 
of the Kursaal, the eye is met by a constant proces- 
sion of pedestrians pacing back and forth along the 
shaded lake-shore avenue, ninety per cent of whom 
are foreign tourists. It is said by the American 
consular reports that between two and one-half and 



167 

three million tourists visit Switzerland each year, 
and that they spend an average of eighty dollars each 
in the country, making a grand total of more than 
two hundred millions of dollars poured into the lap 
of three million frugal and conservative people. No 
wonder that Switzerland, despite its rough and 
mountainous topography, despite its limited agri- 
cultural possibilities and deterrent climatic influences, 
is each year attaining a higher degree of financial 
prosperity, and a distribution of household comforts 
and even luxuries among its peasant homes that 
fifty years ago would have been considered the dream 
of a disordered mind. 

June 21 and 22. — This is our last stopping point in 
Switzerland. To me this has been the most beautiful, 
enjoyable and restful country we have visited. It is 
not filled with the ancient monuments, the ruined 
temples and the myth tainted history of Egypt. It 
is lacking in the sacred traditions and the holy places 
of biblical narrative that cover Palestine as with a 
mantle of spirituality. It claims no fellowship or part 
in the classic philosophy, divine art or military glory 
of ancient Greece. It was never, except in a very 
remote and incidental way, influenced by the mas- 
terful passions, and world-wide achievements, nor did 
it have part in the great architectural constructions 
whose ruins still reveal the wonderful civilization of 
ancient Rome. It is a country which nature has set 
apart as her most beautiful and unspoiled child. 
Majestic mountains, clothed and capped with the 
snows of eternity; sloping hillsides wearing the 
gorgeous garments of spring-time; dense forests of 
deciduous and coniferous trees; an infinity of lakes, 



168 

sparkling in the sunlight and with waters whose 
depths are measured in tints of green and blue; cas- 
cades whose descending floods ribbon the perpendic- 
ular cliffs with a silvery sheen, and beautiful rivers 
whose winding courses have their origin in the icy 
fetters of her wonderful glaciers. Nature has indeed 
been most prodigal in her gifts, and these gifts have, 
since the outside world has grown rich in this world's 
goods, been the means of increased prosperity and 
development along modern progressive lines. The 
riches and the restlessness of German, English and 
American thrift have turned their pleasure seeking 
steps in this direction, until every Swiss hamlet and 
chalet has become an income producer to its owner 
and a place of entertainment for the stranger within 
its gates. The Swiss people are conglomerate. 
The southern cantons bordering on Italy are Italian 
in speech, looks and habit. In the western and mid- 
central sections, French is the predominating lan- 
guage, while in the northern and eastern portions, it 
is as if you were in the realms of the Kaiser himself. 
In appearance the Swiss, especially in the rural dis- 
tricts, are not a prepossessing people. Though strong 
and vigorous from their life of outdoor activity and 
mountain climbing, they are dull and stolid of counte- 
nance, slow of comprehension and not nearly so high- 
bred in style and appearance as their uniformly large 
and beautiful cattle. The school children, of which 
there seems to be an infinity, have a happy and con- 
tented look, but for clumsy figure and homely counte- 
nance are in conspicuous contrast to their charming 
surroundings. Perhaps three per cent of the women 
and one per cent of the men are afflicted with goitre, 
alleged to be caused by some property in the water. 



169 

Going to the Kursaal, I have just heard something 
that revives and strengthens my latterly dwindling 
respect for the good sense and political wisdom of the 
American people. The pride of the rough riders, the 
Bwano Tumbo of the African jungle, the wild ass of the 
the political desert, the alleged Annanias of American 
politics, the self-constitutedleader of the socialistic and 
anarchistic mob, the assassin of law and order, has been 
ignominiously turned down by the national conven- 
tion of the party that invested him with every trust 
he has betrayed. The big stick can now go to the 
family wood-pile and the bull moose can hide in the 
fa,stnesses of his native forest and be forgotten. 

June 23. — The day has been very hot and muggy, 
something akin to what we are accustomed in Cali- 
fornia to call earthquake weather. The sun's rays 
are intensely fierce, and even sitting quietly in the 
shade is none too comfortable. An afternoon nap 
ends with perspiration streaming from every pore. 
Just before dusk there came suddenly, and without 
warning, the patter of a few drops of rain upon the 
window sill. It was the first intimation that even 
a cloud had crossed the sky. In a few moments, 
however, the heavens were darkened; a flash of 
hghtning, a clap of thunder and "the low hung clouds 
dropped their garnered fullness down." For an hour 
the lightning played alternately in zig-zag streaks and 
broad blinding sheets along the rocky sides and around 
the steepled summit of Mount Pilatus, and a torrent 
of rain gullied the hillsides and flooded the city 
streets. The thunder echoed and reverberated 
among the hills, and the heaviness and oppressiveness 
of the atmosphere was thoroughly washed out, leaving 



170 

it clear, pure and fresh as a spring morning. Such 
another inspiring storm I have not seen since my 
camping days in the high Sierras. But, ah me! the 
manifestations above recorded were as the opening 
musketry skirmishing to the combined cannonading 
of Lee's and Meade's artillery when Gettysburg was 
in full progress, for about midnight the storm broke 
upon us again with lightning that fairly burned into 
one's closed eyes, and with an almost continuous 
crackling and pealing of thunder that not only shook 
the house to its very foundations, but fairly threat- 
ened to dethrone the eternal hills. Once in my life 
only do I remember to have seen its equal, and that 
was something more than thirty years ago, when with 
a mining companion I stood upon the summit of one 
of the twin peaks of a lofty mountain in Colorado, 
nearly thirteen thousand feet above sea level, and 
witnessed the gathering and breaking of a thunder 
storm on the other peak, when a bolt of lightning 
struck its mineralized rock, and detaching a mass of 
some thousands of tons, sent it rolling down the 
mountain side, crashing through the timber below, 
snapping large trees as if they were pipe-stems and 
cutting a swath as clean as a combined harvester 
through a California grain field. 

June 24- — During the storm here last night the 
church bells and fire bells were all tolled. I learn 
this morning that it was for the purpose of giving 
notice to people to get up and dress so as to be ready, 
in case their houses were struck and fired by lightning, 
to get out. A gentleman who has lived here for forty 
years says he has never seen the equal of the storm. 



171 

June 25. — Left Lucerne this morning; changed 
ears at Basel, and thence north through Freiburg, 
Baden, Rastatt, Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Worms and 
Mayence, reaching Wiesbaden about the middle of 
the afternoon, where we found an abiding place at 
the Pension Fortuna in a favored location opposite 
a most beautiful public park and only a couple of 
blocks from the Kursaal. Barring the absence of 
mountain and lake scenery such as surrounds one on 
every hand in Switzerland, Weisbaden is one of the 
most beautiful cities we have seen. Most of the 
hotels, pensions and the better class of private 
residences are surrounded by beautiful grounds, 
embowered in lofty spreading sycamores or horse 
chestnuts, and filled with a profusion of flowering 
plants and bushes, scenting the air with delicious 
perfume. Public parks are numerous and the trees, 
in contradistinction to those of Italy and Switz- 
erland, are not subjected to the constant amputation 
of top and branches, but are permitted to reach their 
full natural growth and beauty. Some of the syca- 
mores are fully seventy-five to one hundred feet in 
height, with trunks four to five feet in diameter. The 
city has something over one hundred thousand 
permanent population, and they derive a living, and 
apparently a good one, from the two hundred thou- 
sand rheumatic and otherwise human wrecks who 
are said to visit here each season in the expectation 
of being relieved of some of their pain and misery, 
and incidentally of a share of their surplus coin. 
The springs, of which there are fifteen, have their 
combined outpour of five thousand gallons per hour, 
concentrated at the Trinkhalle. You pay forty 
pfennigs or ten cents for admission, and are furnished 



172 

as many glasses of hot salt water as the strength of 
your stomach and the pruriency of your taste will 
permit you to drink. One curious custom, and one 
that is most likely to create rebellious emotions in 
the average American's mind is the rule that every 
visitor is subjected to by the city authorities, viz.: 
that of paying what is called a visitors' tax of thirty- 
seven and one-half cents for one day, or one dollar 
and a half for ten days, provided the visitor stays 
over four days in the city. The Kursaal or Kurhaus, 
is a very large and magnificent building more than 
four hundred by two hundred feet in size. The 
interior is finished off in highly polished marble of 
various hues. It contains a large and small concert 
hall, a conversation room, gaming room and a reading 
room, where nearly all the prominent world's news- 
papers and magazines are to be found on file. There 
is also a wine room and a beer saloon. During the 
summer afternoon and evenings the band dispenses 
sweet music in the charming grounds just outside the 
building. Wiesbaden and its healing waters were 
known to the Romans, and there are yet found 
remains of walls and ancient baths. 

June 26 and 27. — Spent the time wandering around 
the city inspecting and exploring its many shaded 
nooks, visiting the Trinkhalle, partaking of the usual 
number of glasses of hot spring water, and killing 
time in the evening by resorting to the Kursaal, with 
its music and its reading room. 

June 28. — ^We have to-day made the trip down the 
Rhine as far as Cologne, which includes all that 
portion famed in book and story for its grand and 



173 

picturesque scenery, and confess to a distinct and 
unexpected disappointment. That some stretches 
of the river may be rightfully considered mildly 
picturesque and clothed with a beauty all its own, 
may be conceded, but that it approaches grandeur 
or presents features of natural scenery not common 
to almost any stream of its magnitude and length 
elsewhere in the world, is certainly not apparent. 
In fact it is not worthy of mention in the same 
category with the Hudson or the Columbia from the 
standpoint of natural scenic attraction. The only 
unusual things it can offer to the eye of the curious 
traveler are a few old dilapidated and ruined castles 
perched upon the rocks, most difficult of access, 
where in the darkness and savagery of the middle 
ages the robber barons or chieftains maintained a 
defence against the assaults of their kindred neigh- 
bors or issued at the head of their criminal bands of 
retainers to rob and destroy or subjugate all the 
less powerful or warlike human beings within reach. 
Speaking, however, from the standpoint of practical 
husbandry and commercial importance, the Rhine 
and the country adjacent thereto are worthy of the 
highest consideration. Its terraced and rocky hill- 
sides are blanketed with the finest wine-producing 
vineyards, while its more level stretches are given 
over to the production of grain, hay and vegetables, 
with here and there a small orchard of apples, pears 
and cherries. The river itself is fairly teeming with 
craft of all kinds. Regular passenger steamers leave 
Mayence for Cologne almost every hour, while 
excursion steamers and launches are plying unre- 
mittingly from place to place. Almost every ten 
minutes, as we steamed down the river, we met heavy 



174 

tug-boats, each having in tow four to five large 
barges, laden to the gunwale with coal, lumber or 
miscellaneous merchandise. All this river traffic, 
however, seemed in no measure to minimize the 
number of freight or passenger trains that were ever 
in sight passing up and down the railroads on either 
side of the river. Cities and villages line the banks 
of the river, the most important of which are Bingen, 
Boppard, Coblentz, Bonn and Cologne, the latter 
with more than half a million inhabitants. Our 
journey down the river was enlivened at various 
points by the advent of numerous bands of school 
children, accompanied by their teachers, apparently 
on picnic excursions, who sang their national hymns 
and other songs. Historically the Rhine fills many 
a page and volume of the world's most dramatic 
and tragic events. From being a boundary of 
Caesar's conquests, it gave passage to the northern 
hordes that later swarmed the broad territory and 
overthrew the power and prestige of the Roman 
empire. It flanked the outposts of the great German 
Emperor Charlemagne. 

Its banks became the scene in the middle ages of 
many a raid of contending bands of knights of the 
temple and chivalry. Caesar, Attila, Charlemagne, 
Frederick, Gustavus Adolphus and Napoleon all 
tasted the sweets of victory within sight of its gleam- 
ing waters. Rising within the glacier-fed canons of 
Switzerland's most majestic mountains, and winding 
its tortuous but ever northern course through several 
cantons, it crosses the line near Basel, supplying 
fertility, transportation and commerce the full length 
of the Kaiser's realm and its little adjoining neighbor, 
Holland, where its waters are swallowed up in the 



175 

greater expanse of the North Sea. Perhaps no 
stream in Europe has furnished the theme for greater 
profusion of story, myth and poetic fancy. Every 
cHff and headland, every ruined tower and every 
ancient city and village along its banks is rich in 
romance of the Age of Chivalry, in stories of relig- 
ious bigotry and cruelty, in barbarous wars, inhuman 
imprisonment and fiendish torture by the human 
tigers of the Dark Ages. 

June 29. — Visited the Cologne Cathedral, the one 
great sight that tempted us to stop over here. We 
were particularly fortunate in our visit, as we were 
privileged to witness the Catholic service in all its 
pomp and ceremony. As we entered the cathedral 
the strains of the great organ and the rich musical 
voices of the perfectly trained choir filled the great 
auditorium. A thousand electric lights illumined the 
building and dispelled the deep shadows incident to 
a cloudy, threatening sky outside. At least two 
thousand worshippers occupied the seats and filled 
the aisles in front of the altar, behind which sat the 
archbishop and ninety priests, at regular intervals 
chanting and intoning the sacred service. It is a 
great cathedral ; its tall and graceful spires, its tower- 
ing columns, its lofty ceiling and its exquisite stained 
glass windows would compel the highest possible 
encomiums, were it not that we have already seen 
the great Cathedral of Milan, and that being the 
case, all superlatives are exhausted. 

So far as my observation has gone there is a strong 
and painful contrast between Germany and America 
in the treatment of the women. There seems to be 
an entire lack on the part of men of that chivalrous 



176 

and deferential treatment of the female sex which 
prevails in America. In the United States the most 
abandoned hobo will step aside on the street to allow 
a lady to pass; here I have seen handsomely dressed 
ladies crowded off the sidewalk into the gutter to 
allow the passage of two or three lusty young men 
who have selfishly lined themselves across the pave- 
ment. Men will meet on the street, take off their 
hats to each other and almost bow to the pavement 
in excess of politeness, but I never yet saw one of 
them lift his helmet to a lady. Again, men will greet 
each other with a fervent kiss on each cheek, which 
to the onlooking American produces a feeling akin 
to nausea, and while they may have a reserve fund 
of salutations for their wives and sweethearts, the 
latter, in some instances at least, are prone to waste 
their sweetness on their lap-dogs. In Germany, as 
well as in other parts of Europe, children are taught 
to respect and obey their parents and in all other 
ways to submit themselves to lawful authority. The 
disrespect, the disobedience and the rough hood- 
lumism that is becoming so characteristic of American 
children is nowhere in evidence here. And yet it is 
not because of any excess of inherent cussedness in 
the American child, but is the result of neglect, bad 
training and lax discipline on the part of American 
parents. 

June 30. — Took another look at the Cathedral 
during services and then visited the old church of 
St. Gereon, which though a rather unpretentious 
building outside, has been recently beautified and 
embellished in the interior with paintings by Gobbels. 
On the way to the Cathedral we met an imposing 



177 

street procession of a religious character, headed by 
a band of music and a cordon of priests, followed by 
various societies or guilds bearing banners, staffs 
mounted with glass enclosed and lighted tapers, and 
hundreds of children bearing dishes of rose leaves to 
be scattered at the altars. The streets along the 
route of the procession had previously been littered 
with oak leaves. The affair seemed to be one of 
great religious solemnity, but from our inability to 
speak or understand German we were unable to 
evoke any information as to its meaning further than 
that one man said it was Kermess. In the afternoon 
we took a ride on the street cars out to one of the 
parks or gathering places of the people for Sunday 
recreation and amusement. It is a grand gala day 
for all classes. The tables under the trees are filled 
with family groups or friendly parties making them- 
selves comfortable and socially joyous, each with 
''ein glass bier" or "ein tasse kaffe" and whatever 
of lighter beverages and cakes or confections are best 
suited to their tastes. All are well clad and well 
behaved. No quarreling or bickering, no offensive 
language or conduct and no evidences of intoxication 
are to be seen. 

July 1 . — Left this morning for Amsterdam, passing 
through Dusseldorf, Duisburg, Oberhausen and 
Wesel, all large and important German manufactur- 
ing towns. At Zevenaar we crossed the line into 
Holland and were interviewed by the customs officer, 
who readily recognized our honest poverty and grace- 
fully vised our hand luggage. Those burdened with 
trunks, however, were compelled to see them hauled 
out of the baggage car and to follow them to the 
1677—13 



178 

customs office, where they were opened and examined. 
From here on, the country is very flat and low, much 
swamp land being in evidence, but affording abund- 
ance of rich pasture to the numerous herds of Holstein 
cattle that diversify the landscape in every direction. 
Many of the quaint old Dutch windmills, familiar in 
picture books of our childhood, were revolving their 
long and awkward arms in the gentle breeze. After 
passing Arnhem the character of the country rapidly 
improves. The soil is richer, and instead of pasture 
land it is devoted to potatoes and other garden truck, 
including sugar beets. After passing through Utrecht 
and sundry small villages we arrived at Amsterdam 
and were driven to the Hotel Philadelphia. 

July 2. — Visited Ryks Museum, a very large and 
imposing building, covering three acres of ground. 
It is dedicated to an illustration of Dutch art and 
life. On the lower floor is an immense collection of 
military and naval weapons from the fifteenth to 
the nineteenth centuries, many of them of very 
curious and ingenious design. There are mail shirts, 
helmets, steel and chain armor, small arms and 
cannon of every conceivable pattern, together with 
models of old Dutch men-of-war and English and 
Spanish naval flags captured during the time of 
Admiral Van Tromp and the Dutch ascendancy as a 
naval power. The upper floor is devoted through- 
out its numerous long galleries to paintings by Dutch 
artists, numbering over three thousand subjects, and 
representing the nation's art from the fifteenth 
century down to the present time. Rembrandt's 
"Night Watch" is the most celebrated painting here 
and is very beautiful^ though there are several others 



179 

by less noted artists that are more pleasing to my 
uneducated eye. There is also an almost endless 
exhibit of works in gold and silver, Dutch cabinets 
and wood- work, old tapestries, Gothic furniture, 
porcelain and faience ware, engravings and sculp- 
tures. In the afternoon we took a carriage and drove 
around the city for two hours, visiting the old section, 
the Jewish quarter, and the wealthy residence 
section. The latter contains many large and costly 
houses, but were architecturally, from the American 
standpoint, very plain and unattractive. 

July 3. — This morning we took a boat for the 
excursion to Marken and Volendam, two of the old 
villages that still maintain in their purity the primi- 
tive dress and habits of their ancestors. Marken's 
population is wholly Protestant in religion, while that 
of Volendam is as unanimously Catholic. The 
costumes of the people, though radically different 
in the two villages, are strikingly odd and picturesque. 
The men at Marken wear trousers that resemble two 
large grain bags from the waist to the knees, where 
they are narrowed into the size of the leg and stop. 
The men at Volendam use as much or more cloth in 
their trousers, but they are uniformly large all the 
way down, and reach to their shoes. The women 
of Marken wear a bodice of wool embroidered in 
colors, laced up the back and with sleeves in bright 
colored stripes. The skirt is usually of blue woolen 
and is underlaid at the hips with a large roll. The 
women of Volendam are more sombre in their colors, 
except that they usually wear a gay colored apron. 
Men, women and children of both places wear clumsy 
wooden shoes. On this trip we made a short stop 



180 

at Monnikendam and were shown through a dairy 
where the celebrated Edam cheese is manufactured. 
Everything within the building showed evidence of 
frequent scrubbing and was as clean as water could 
make it, and this applies to their houses as well. In 
fact, cleanliness seems to have become a disease, 
epidemic in form, and scrubbing goes on from morn- 
ing to night both inside and outside a house. But 
gentle reader, this passion for cleanliness pertains, 
only to inanimate things. The average Hollander, 
when it comes to the use of water on his own person, 
issues a decree of 'persona non grata. He has an 
aversion to it for either ablutions or drinking pur- 
poses, and among the poorer classes bathing is as 
scarce as gold watches. As in other continental 
countries, wages are on a scale that would cause an 
American wage-earner to gasp for breath. A car- 
penter or blacksmith who with tolerable regularity 
can earn five dollars a week is proud of his good 
fortune and of the comfort with which he can support 
his family. But the common laborer, with his 
penchant for a rapidly increasing family, is compelled, 
as fast as his children reach the age of twelve years, 
to send them out to the workshop and factory to 
supplement the family income. 

Holland is a country of canals and dykes. Being 
for the most part below the ocean level at high tide, 
a fight has been carried on for hundreds of years 
against the aggressive action of the sea. In times 
past entire villages and thousands of acres of land 
have been swallowed up, but the persistent optimism 
and grit of the people have conquered, so that in the 
last two centuries nearly four thousand square miles 
have been retrieved from the desolation of the waters. 



181 

The canals permeate the whole country, and form 
the main method of transportation of merchandise, 
and on these are clumsy luggers or canal boats where 
more than fifty thousand people find constant employ- 
ment as well as homes. Their whole life is passed on 
these boats, and they pass from father to son, both as a 
residence and an occupation, and in most instances 
you will find their otherwise unattractive hulks 
beautified by numerous pots of growing plants, bloom- 
ing flowers and merry singing birds, for the Hollander 
is a great lover of flowers. 

What sort of a country Holland is, as has been ex- 
pressed in many ways by many authorities, is summed 
up by an Italian writer: "Napoleon said that it was 
an alluvion of French rivers — the Rhine, the Scheldt 
and the Meuse, and with this pretext he added it to 
his Empire. One writer has defined it as a sort of 
transition between land and sea. Another as an 
immense crust of earth floating on the water. Others 
an annex of the old continent, the end of the earth 
and the beginning of the ocean, a measureless raft 
of mud and sand, but all are agreed upon one point, 
Holland is a conquest made by man over the sea; 
it is an artificial country; the Hollanders made it; 
it exists because the Hollanders preserve it and it 
will vanish whenever the Hollanders abandon it." 

But the wonderful fight made against the forces of 
nature has been equaled, if not surpassed, in her 
fight against organized political tyranny. Overrun 
from the earliest times by barbarous Germans, dev- 
astating Franks, aggressive Normans and piratical 
Danes, and devastated for centuries by the bitter 
and vindictive passions and hatreds of civil war, her 
people arose superior to the desolation of it all, and 



182 

fighting to a victorious issue her long struggle with 
the Spanish oppressor, established a republic whose 
rise has been so graphically depicted by our own 
distinguished historian, Motley. For many years 
hers was the dominant flag upon the high seas and 
her coffers were filled with the wealth of returning 
cargoes from her tributary colonies stretching from 
the East to the West Indies and the Oceanic islands. 
And while she has lost that militant dominance once 
attained, her commercial traffic along peaceful lines 
is still among the largest in proportion to her area 
and population of any country on the globe. 

July 4- — Left Amsterdam this morning for The 
Hague. The country along the route is of the same 
general character as that through which we have 
previously passed, being low and flat and devoted 
principally to the growing of hay and raising of stock, 
except in the vicinity of Haarlem, where the chief 
mdustry is the raising of bulbs and where many 
fields of beautiful flowering plants were in bloom. 
After getting located in our hotel we visited the 
Mauritshaus, a picture gallery which is quite cele- 
brated, and although not large, contains many fine 
specimens of Dutch art by Rembrandt, Van Dyck 
and others. From the picture gallery we passed to 
the Binnenhoff, a large room which is used for 
the joint sittings of the two legislative bodies and for 
the opening of the States-general by the Queen. In 
another room we saw from the gallery the first legis- 
lative chamber in session and listened for a few 
minutes to its proceedings, which were as quiet, 
dignified and dull as an average day in the United 
States Senate chamber. 



183 

The large hall in the Binnenhoff is the place where 
the second international Peace Congress met five years 
ago. In the afternoon we took the electric train 
for Scheveningen, the great Dutch watering place. 
On the way out from The Hague we passed many 
fine residences with surrounding grounds filled with 
fine trees and beautiful flowers, the homes of the 
magnates of the Dutch East India company, whose 
wealth has been accumulated in the Oriental trade. 
For one-third the distance the cars pass through a 
park filled with a dense growth of native forest trees, 
through which meander winding paths leading to 
resorts where one can find a glass of wine or beer and 
a satisfying luncheon. Scheveningen was primarily 
a fishing village, but its beautiful beach, extending 
for several miles along the ocean front, has attracted 
the summer resort class to its shores and there has 
been gradually built up a series of hotels, restaurants 
and knick-knack shops somewhat similar to, though 
not nearly so extensive, as those of Coney Island or 
Atlantic City. The local population amounts to 
twenty-five or thirty thousand and the annual 
number of visitors is about the same. Instead of 
having fixed and permanent bathing houses along 
the shore, as is the American custom, they have little 
houses on wheels into which the bather enters and 
proceeds to undress and don his bathing suit. He 
is then wheeled out into the surf, descends from his 
wagon, and when through bathing calls his number 
and the wagon is pushed out to him; he climbs in, 
rinses himself with fresh water, dresses, and the 
performance is over. This being the 4th of July, 
our landlord, in recognition of our nationality, 
decorated each plate at breakfast with a small silk 



184 

American flag. The news of the nomination of 
Woodrow Wilson reached us. He has of late pandered 
to the cry of the socialist and labor union mob to such 
an extent as to catch much of their floating vote, 
and has no long political record of antagonisms to 
overcome among the bosses. Taft will find him a 
hard competitor to beat, but in any event the result 
of the two conventions has been to seriously cripple 
all future Presidential aspirations of the twin Samp- 
sons of dangerous, if not demagogic politics, Roose- 
velt and Bryan. 

July 5. — Left The Hague this afternoon after 
having taken a ride through various sections of the 
city. Passed through Delft, Rotterdam, Dordrecht 
and Rosendaal, reaching the Belgian line at Esschen, 
where the customs officer boarded the train, and for 
the first time examined our luggage. Leaving 
Esschen, we soon reached Antwerp, where we were 
unexpectedly forced to change cars for Brussels, 
which city we reached in time for dinner. The 
country through which we passed, until nearing the 
boundary line between Holland and Belgium, was like 
the rest of Holland, low and flat and devoted almost 
entirely to hay and grazing. But the Belgian 
country is higher and dryer land, devoted mostly to 
grain, sugar beets, potatoes and garden truck. I saw 
no women working in the fields such as has been the 
case in other European countries through which we 
have passed. Since leaving Italy we have seen no evi- 
dences of extreme poverty and want among the lower 
classes. In Switzerland, Germany, Holland and 
Belgium the beggars, if there are any, are religiously 
kept from view. In no city, so far, north of Italy 



185 

have we found any such crowded, disgusting and 
destitute tenement quarters as are to be seen in our 
own New York. The common people over here have 
a more satisfied and cheerful look than the gang of 
offscourings that have emigrated to our own shores, 
probably because they are what are left after elimi- 
nating the dissatisfied, the rebellious and the vicious. 

July 6. — Walked down town in the morning as far 
as the Palace of Justice, which is an immense building 
costing about nine million dollars and said to be the 
largest architectural work of the nineteenth century. 
It contains twenty-seven large court rooms and about 
two hundred and seventy thousand square feet of 
space, being considerably larger than St. Peter's at 
Rome. The discoloration of the stone by smoke and 
weather sadly mars the outside beauty of the building. 
Visited the Palais des Beaux-Arts, which is filled 
throughout its long corridors and galleries with stat- 
uary and paintings, many Rembrandts and Van 
Dycks being in evidence in addition to an hundred 
other names more or less noted in Dutch and Flemish 
arts. The gallery, however, in the quality of its 
paintings, is not to be compared with the Pitti and 
Ufizzi galleries at Florence. Brussels is divided into 
upper and lower towns. Standing at the Palace of 
Justice and looking almost straight down in front of 
you nearlj'- a hundred feet and stretching far out over 
the slightly undulating plain lies the lower and older 
portion of the city, while the newer and handsomer 
limits of the upper city, its main thoroughfares shaded 
with large and beautiful trees, extend to the Bois de 
la Cambre and beyond toward Waterloo. 



186 

July 7. — In the afternoon took the cars on Louise 
Avenue and went out to the Bois de la Cambre, one 
of the municipal parks. It is filled with great horse 
chestnut, beech and oak trees. Some of the beeches 
are the finest I have seen both in size and beauty. 
Many of them range from three to four and one-half 
feet in diameter and a single specimen I noticed was 
fully five feet through a couple of feet above the ground. 
An excellent band discoursed fine music; there were 
hurdy-gurdys, restaurants, beer saloons, tennis courts 
and several thousand well dressed people strolling 
around and seeking restful amusements. One fea- 
ture of all these European parks is that although they 
are plentifully supplied with benches and seats, one 
has hardly time to sit down and comfortably adjust 
himself before a satrap appears with a ticket-book 
and demands payment for the use of the seat. In 
the matter and manner of catching the strangers' 
centimes and francs, both going and coming, these 
foreigners have us Americans — using one of our slang 
phrases — skinned a city block. After spending an 
hour or two at de la Cambre we took the car and rode 
to the park opposite the Royal Palace, but found that 
the afternoon music was over. Dogs are utilized to 
their full capacity as beasts of burden in Holland and 
Belgium. Nearly every push cart has one or two 
dogs harnessed underneath as aid to the owner in 
propelhng the cart. This class of dogs unquestion- 
ably earn their living. On the other hand, in 
Amsterdam and Brussels about ten per cent of the 
women and five per cent of the men on promenade 
are either leading or led by the most reprehensible and 
insignificant class of curs imaginable. 



187 

With a denseness of population greater than that 
of any other country in Europe it is essential in 
Belgium that continuous and never flagging industry 
should characterize its people. And while this 
remark includes the men it is but fair to say that it 
applies with much greater force to the women. Their 
astonishing capacity for work is manifest in every 
industry and employment. In nearly all the smaller 
stores and shops women are in charge, and in fact 
it is considered rather undignified for able-bodied 
men to mind a shop. The husband usually seeks his 
employment in some outside business, leaving the 
wife and children to sell the bread, the cakes, the 
candy, the fruit, the furnishing goods and the knick 
knacks of all kinds. In place of our milk man, they 
have the milk maid or milk woman who goes from 
door to door with her cart drawn by two or three 
spiritless and humiliated looking dogs, with her 
brightly polished copper or brass milk cans. It is 
claimed, however, that these dogs receive the special 
care and supervision of the authorities, and that any 
ascertained cases of neglect or abuse of them is 
promptly corrected and the offenders adequately 
punished. The women also fill the numerous lace 
factories, and with deft and marvelous skill ply their 
thread bobbins for twelve long working hours each 
day, and withal they look more contented and happy 
than do the working women on our side of the water. 

July 8. — The weather here has been a pleasant 
disappointment. Instead of being hot and uncom- 
fortable it has been cloudy, cool and refreshing. 
To-day it was almost chilly, and altogether on our trip 
since leaving Egypt we have had, with only now and 



188 

then a day's exception, typical sight seeing weather. 
This afternoon we made a visit to the battlefield of 
Waterloo, distant ten miles from Brussels. After the 
changes of street and tram cars and a walk of about 
three miles we reached the battlefield. The village 
of Waterloo is a long straggling hamlet of a single 
street, composed mostly of somewhat ancient one- 
story houses, showing no signs either of wealth or 
abject poverty. The battlefield lies from two to 
three miles south of the village of Waterloo, and the 
battle raged with the greatest fierceness around the 
chateau of Hougomont, the fortified farmhouse La 
Haie Sainte and the village of Mont St. Jean. About 
a mile south of Mont St. Jean is the Butte du Lion. 
This is an artificial conical hill or mound two hundred 
feet in height, thrown up on the spot where the Prince 
of Orange was wounded, and is surmounted by the 
bronze figure of a Lion made from the metal of the 
French cannon captured at the battle. About two 
thirds of a mile south of Mont St. Jean, near the 
roadside, stands a monument to Colonel Gordon and 
also one to the Hanoverian Legion. From this point 
there is a wide view of the battlefield, which covers a 
beautiful stretch of undulating country now rich with 
a ripening harvest of golden grain and redolent with 
all the signs of peace and prosperity. 

July 9. — Strolled about the city; visited the Hotel 
de Ville and sundry other localities. While Brussels 
is a large and compact business city, it is common- 
place in appearance and lacks the many interesting 
and novel sights that have hitherto greeted us in 
many other places. The Hotel de Ville, which by the 
way, in the American sense is not a hotel at all, is, with 



189 

the possible exception of the Palace of Justice, the 
most conspicuous and the handsomest building in 
Brussels. It is the product of different centuries. 
The oldest portion, now constituting the left wing, dates 
from a little prior to the beginning of the fifteenth 
century, and the right wing some half century later. 
On the lofty and graceful tower stands a colossal 
statue of the archangel St. Michael, the patron saint 
of the city, while the front and sides of the building 
are adorned with statues of various saints, dukes and 
allegorical groups. The building fronts on a large 
open square, around the other three sides of which are 
several buildings of local note, including the Maison 
du Roi, in which is a small museum, and the Guild 
Halls of sundry corporations. From here I strolled 
over to the Boulevard de Waterloo, and along the 
same to the Porte de Hall, which is one of the old 
gateways of the city and the only one now standing. 
It is a massive and gloomy looking building with a 
tower and bastions, and dates back to a hundred 
years before the discovery of America. During the 
cruel days when the Duke of Alva cursed the country 
with his atrocities it was used as the Bastile of 
Brussels. The interior is filled with a collection of 
ancient arms and armor. Like all other European 
cities of prominence, Brussels has a cathedral of which 
she is proud, but while it is a fine building it is not to 
be mentioned in the same class with those of Venice, 
Milan or Cologne. Like all other cathedrals, it boasts 
a patron saint in the person of Saint Gudule, a virgin 
of some twelve centuries ago. Her life was filled 
with penances, mortifications of the flesh and miracles. 
Among other well established incidents in her life — 
which no modern skeptic will presume to doubt, it is 



190 

related that when a rash and over-arduous suitor 
sought to steal a kiss from her saintly lips, a column 
of the church opened at her command and received 
her within its cold and stony protection until the 
misguided youth departed. The pulpit of the cathe- 
dral is a massive and beautiful specimen of the art of 
wood carving and represents the expulsion of Adam 
and Eve from the garden of Eden. High up in the 
nave are ranged colossal statues of the twelve 
apostles, and round about the choir are the heraldic 
shields of the Knights of the Golden Fleece. 

July 11. — Nothing doing but resting and strolling 
about town. 

July 12. — Left Brussels for Paris. The country 
through which we passed was level or slightly roUing. 
Bountiful crops of wheat, barley and oats were being 
harvested and numerous orchards were scattered 
along the route. The towns through which we passed 
seemed to be filled with various manufacturing plants. 
Reached Paris about the middle of the afternoon. 

July IS. — Visited the Pantheon, the gardens and 
gallery or Musee du Luxembourg. The weather was 
very hot and sultry and made sight-seeing somewhat 
of a burden, but the statuary and pictures on exhi- 
bition were full compensation for the effort. Paris is 
a swirling, seething maelstrom of electrified humanity. 
It is a concentrated sounding-board for all the varied 
noises that were ever played upon the tympanum of 
the human ear. There seems to be no governor or 
controlling hand on the safety valve of the engine. 
Everything and everybody seem to run hell-bent in 
full accordance with their own notions. Automobiles, 



191 

electric cars and omnibuses, taxi-cabs, in fact, every- 
thing in the transportation Hne, runs at topmost speed, 
without regard to the rights, privileges or safety of 
the human race. A mere pedestrian has no rights 
that these insane chauffeurs, conductors and drivers 
are bound to respect. Man, woman or child must 
take all chances in crossing the most crowded thorough- 
fares, without a policeman in sight to assist or to aid 
in controlling or directing the congested traffic. If 
human life is worth a continental in this paradise of 
the commune, neither the people nor the authorities 
give any evidence of it. It seems, as I am told, that 
the law of the city gives vehicles the preferential right 
to the use of the streets, and that if any pedestrian is 
not alert enough to get out of the way, he not only is 
run down, but if there is anything of an animate 
nature left of him, he is liable to assessment for any 
damage he may have caused to the vehicle that 
knocked him down and out. It reminds me of the 
question propounded as to the meaning of the Bible 
passage, ''the quick and the dead," and the answer 
was that if you were quick you escaped the auto- 
mobile, and if not you were dead. 

We also visited to-day the famous manufactory of 
Gobelin tapestries and saw the artists weaving 
them. It is a most wonderful work. The artists 
are employed by the government; they are paid six 
thousand francs per annum and only work when the 
spirit moves them. These tapestries are not sold, 
but are used in making gifts to foreign potentates and 
governments. 

July 14- — Took a boat on the Seine as far as the 
Louvre station and thence transferred to the tram 



192 

cars on the way to Versailles, it being the under- 
standing that as this is the anniversary of the storm- 
ing of the Bastile, and a national holiday, that not 
only would the palace be open to visitors, but that all 
of the eighty-six fountains would be in full play in 
the grounds. The engine on our train had a severe 
attack of congestion of the lungs, threatening devel- 
opment into mechanical pneumonia, and while under- 
going medical treatment delayed us at frequent 
intervals along the road. Arriving at last we found 
to our dismay that the palace was closed. Nothing 
but a stroll around the beautiful and extensive 
grounds was left for us to do, while awaiting the 
promised fountain display which was to take place 
at 5 P. M. Thick groves or forests of magnificent 
trees lent beauty and cool refreshing restfulness to 
the surroundings. The trees, however, instead of 
being left to the guiding and artistic hand of nature, 
have been required to adapt their habits of growth 
and expansion to the peculiar ideas of landscape 
gardeners whose preference seems to have run to 
geometric exactness and stiffness of outline. Thus 
many trees are shaved off or curtailed of their limbs 
on one side and made to present a flat surface; 
others are pruned of their graceful and ambitious 
tops and made to branch out and look like a row of 
one story African huts with thatched roofs. This 
mutilation of forest shade trees seems to prevail 
almost everywhere we have been except in Germany. 
After waiting until the hour for the supposed fountain 
exhibit we learned that they would not be in action, 
and with this second disappointment subduing our 
enthusiasm we returned to our hotel. At 10 P. M. 
we proceeded to the Place Hotel de Ville to witness 



193 

the illumination and fireworks. An immense crowd 
had assembled and the fireworks were very interesting 
and beautiful in their effects. The avenue was illu- 
minated in the conventional way with arches and 
strings of various colored electric lights, and after the 
fireworks were over the band discoursed dancing 
music for those whose enthusiasm was sufficiently 
alert to trip the light fantastic toe. The crowd, in 
spite of many evidences of an over-indulgence in 
wine and spirits, was quite good-natured and not 
over boisterous. 

July 15. — Changed our quarters to the Hotel 
London and New York, near the Gare St. Lazare, and 
in the midst of one of the busiest sections of the city. 
The street in front of the hotel is crowded with all 
sorts of vehicles and an infinite number of people, all 
in a violent hurry to get somewhere other than where 
they are. Crossing the street successfully is an act 
of agility on which a veteran of nearly three score and 
ten can well pride himself. To-day we visited the 
church of the Madeline or St. Mary Magdalen. It 
was begun by Napoleon as a temple of glory, but 
finished by Louis 18th as an expiatory church to the 
memory of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. It is 
an imposing structure, surrounded by a colonnade of 
beautiful corinthian columns, and according to the 
guide book is 354 feet long, 141 broad and 100 high. 
Sculptures and paintings of more or less merit adorn 
the inner walls and chapels. In the street leading 
from here to the Place de la Concorde, the Communists 
erected, at the time of the Franco-Prussian war, a 
stout barricade which was stormed by the French 
troops entering Paris from Versailles and only taken 
after heavy fighting and great slaughter, 



194 

July 16. — Visited the Hotel des Invalides and the 
tomb of Napoleon. Lying between the river Seine 
and the Hotel des Invalides is the Esplanade, which, 
aside from a few rows of sickly and discouraged elm 
trees, looks in the summer sun like a hot corner of 
the great Sahara, although it is spoken of by the 
people with great pride and lauded in the guide-books 
as a place of wonderful magnificence and beauty. 
A handsome stone bridge, known as Pont Alexandre 
III, connects the Esplanade with the Champs 
Elysees. The Hotel des Invalides is an immense 
rambling structure and was founded by Louis XIV 
in 1670 as a home for the wounded and invalid 
French soldiers, disabled in the wars of France. At 
one time the institution contained seven thousand 
inmates, but the number is now reduced to twelve 
individuals, and the building is turned into a museum 
of military accoutrements, arms and spoils of war. 
The dome of the Invalides is the most striking feature 
of the whole building. In the very centre of the 
interior is the tomb of Napoleon I, and surrounding 
it in their several niches are the tombs of several 
Marshals of Louis XIV and sundry members of 
Napoleon's family. 

July 17. — Spent the afternoon wandering through 
the endless galleries of the Louvre, bestowing a passing 
glance upon the acres of paintings upon the walls, 
representing the most eminent of the world's artists 
during the last four centuries. The heat for the past 
two days has been very oppressive and sight-seeing 
an exhaustive burden. Paris is the most uncom- 
fortable, the most nerve-racking and the most unsat- 
isfactory place so far as the quantity and quality of 



195 

the food supply is concerned that we have yet 
encountered. In the variety and volume of its 
noises it is a lineal descendant of the original Bedlam. 
In its dangers to life and limb the modern aeroplane 
is a vehicle of safety compared with it. The restau- 
rants fill a hungry heart with hope, but realization 
crucifies that hope between two thieves — the pro- 
prietor and the waiter. Its women — some of them — 
are striking in dress and appearance, but their voices 
are as raucous as a flock of ravens. The sidewalks in 
front of hotels and restaurants are filled with tables 
at which succeeding and endless crowds of leisurely 
people are sipping wine, beer or mineral water. An 
American cocktail or sherry cobbler would seem like 
an oasis in this vast desert of beverages, but the 
cunning hand of the expert mixer is a stranger 
within the gates. 

July 18. — Not well. Rested at hotel all day. 

July 19. — Visited the palace and forest of Fontain- 
bleau. The chateau or palace, is about one and 
one-half hours ride by rail from Paris. It is a large, 
low, rectangular building, mostly two stories in 
height, and the older portion dates from the six- 
teenth century. It is on the edge of the forest, and 
is surrounded by beautiful well-shaded grounds, 
elaborate flower beds and a large carp pond, where the 
carp in countless thousands fight like a drove of 
hungry hogs for the scraps of bread that are thrown 
to them by curious visitors. Historically this cha- 
teau is one of the most interesting spots around Paris. 
It was built for Francis I, and has been the summer 
home and resort of every French naonarch from his 



196 

time down to and including Napoleon III. Here Louis 
XIV signed the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. 
Here Napoleon Bonaparte divorced the Empress 
Josephine. Here Louis XV was married and Napo- 
leon III was baptized. Here Napoleon I bid adieu 
to the Old Guard on his abdication of the throne and 
here he reviewed the Old Guard on his return from 
Elba. Within the walls of the chateau is a magnifi- 
cent suite of apartments where Pope Pius VII was im- 
prisoned by Napoleon's order; and here lived Marie 
Antoinette, Madame de Maintenon, Catharine de 
Medici and Anne of Austria, the mother of Louis XIV. 
Near the entrance to the Chateau is a monument to 
Rosa Bonheur, consisting of a large bronze bull, 
designed by herself mounted upon a granite base 
which is adorned with a portrait of herself 
and three bas-reliefs of her paintings. The fur- 
nishings and adornments of the various depart- 
ments in the palace are rich, ornate, and in most 
instances very beautiful, especially the gilded and 
frescoed ceilings, the Gobelin tapestries and the 
elaborately carved furniture. Leaving the chateau 
we sought a restaurant for lunch, where the usual 
holdup was practised on us. viz: six francs for two 
cups of coffee and one dish of sliced tomatoes; three 
francs for use of napkins and a franc and one-half for 
use of knife and fork. Through some unaccountable 
oversight the waiter forgot to charge us for wine that 
we did not order and did not have. It must be as 
Barnum said, that the American people love to be 
humbugged, else they would not continue to flock to 
Paris and be subjected to the bold, devious and num- 
berless methods of Parisian swindling that are prac- 
ticed upon them. After lujich we took a two hours' 



197 

drive through the famous forest of forty thousand 
acres, which for picturesqueness of scenery and 
beauty of forest growth can be totally eclipsed by a 
drive in almost any large American forest tract from 
Maine to California. With an air of intense pride 
our driver took us to what he called the gorge and 
had us alight, walk through it and meet him on the 
other side. It bore about as much comparison in 
depth, beauty and grandeur to Chico canon as Marys- 
ville Buttes do to Mt. Shasta. We were shown the 
largest tree in the forest — an oak about 5| to 6 feet 
in diameter — perhaps 100 to 110 feet high, but with 
no considerable spread of branches and in no wise 
comparable in size or beauty to our Sir Joseph Hooker 
oak on Rancho Chico. 

July 20. — Another day of rest as the result of a 
severe cold. 

July 21. — Made a second trip to Versailles, this 
time by steam cars. Fortune favored us, for the 
Palace was open and the fountains were in action. 
The latter exhibit was more or less of a disappoint- 
ment. Notwithstanding all the picturesque and 
highly colored praise that has been devoted by guide- 
books and tourists to this so-called wonderful display, 
it is in no sense to be compared with the exhibits 
along the same line that millions of Americans saw 
at both the Chicago and St. Louis Expositions. On 
the other hand, the Palace, both from a historic and 
artistic standpoint, contains much that is highly 
interesting. Originally a hunting chateau for Louis 
XIII, it was enlarged by Louis XIV and made his 
real seat of government, space enough being provided 



198 

for the residence of his entire court and their retainers, 
to the number of ten thousand, and at an estimated 
cost including the laying out of the park and gardens 
of one hundred million dollars. Nearly one hundred 
rooms and vestibules, some of them of immense size, 
with ceilings elaborately and beautifully frescoed, are 
filled with paintings, statuary and Gobelin tapestries. 
Many of the paintings are of indifferent execution and 
small value, but there are many historic and impres- 
sive battle scenes, showing how "man's inhumanity to 
man" during the last five centuries has "made count- 
less thousands mourn." The Gallery des Glaces, a 
magnificent room more than two hundred feet long 
and nearly fifty feet high contains, a series of frescoes 
representing the reign of Louis XIV. It was in this 
room that King William of Prussia was crowned 
Emperor of Germany in 1871, after the German occu- 
pation of Paris. The apartments of Madame de 
Maintenon contain many portraits, including one of 
herself by Elle. In the Gallery of Battles a large 
painting of special interest and significance to Ameri- 
cans is that of the seige of Yorktown, conducted by 
General Washington and his French ally. General 
Rochambeau. Battles and portraits of Napoleon 
I are manifest on all sides, including all the mem- 
bers of the Bonaparte family. In fact. Napoleon 
seems to have been almost as universal a subject for 
the artists here as the Saviour and the Holy Family 
were with Raphael and Michael Angelo. After our 
exit from the palace we wandered through the 
grounds to the Grand and Petite Trianons, the former 
of which was erected by Louis XIV for the occupancy 
of his mistress, Madame de Maintenon. In the salon 
of this building Marshal Bazaine was tried and found 



199 

guilty of treason for his conduct during the Franco- 
German war. 

July 22. — Visited the Bibliotheque Nationale, or 
National Library, containing some four million 
volumes, and being the largest collection of books and 
manuscripts in the world. The library is most 
miserably and inconveniently housed, most of the 
rooms being small and wanting proper light. It 
contains very many rare and beautiful literary treas- 
ures, an enumeration of which would fill a large 
volume. Many samples of superb bindings in gold, 
silver and ivory, adorned with semi-precious stones, 
are in evidence, as are also hand-illuminated volumes 
of the tenth to the thirteenth centuries. In one case is 
a volume by Michael Servetus, which was saved from 
the flames when the author was burned at the stake 
in Geneva, by order of Calvin. Here also is a copy of 
the Mazarin bible, printed in 1455 and said to be from 
the press of Gutenburg; an old catalogue of the 
Library, dated 1373, and a copy of the Voyage of 
Amerigo Vespucci, printed in 1502. There is a 
cabinet of medaUions and antiques, comprising gems, 
intaglios, cameos, etc. From the library we walked 
to the Bourse and saw and heard the French brokers 
going through the same crazy and excited perform- 
ances that can be witnessed almost any day in Wall 
Street Stock Exchange or the Chicago Wheat Pit. 

July 23. — Mounted an omnibus and alighted at 
the Trocadero an extensive building adorned with 
statuary, being a survival of the Paris Exposition 
of 1878. From here we walked across a bridge over 
the Seine to the Eiffel Tower and ascended by the 
elevator to the second station, from whence a beautiful 



200 

and extensive view of the city is obtained. From 
here by boat we ascended the Seine to Sevres, about 
six miles. Passing through a shaded street or park 
we reached the museum, where the most surpassingly 
beautiful specimens of Sevres china are on exhibition. 
It is hard to conceive of anything more exquisite and 
delicate than these products of human genius. Here 
are to be found copies in porcelain of some of the 
most noted paintings of world renowned artists, ex- 
actly true in every minute detail of color and drawing. 
Here also are an infinite variety of plates, dishes and 
vases, many of the latter of gigantic proportions and 
each worth a small fortune, one, the Vase Neptune, 
being ten feet high and decorated with designs as 
beautiful and fascinating as an oriental dream. We 
were taken into the workshop and shown a glimpse 
of the methods of manufacture, including the kilns, 
but were not permitted to see much of the detail. 
Leaving the factory at Sevres we walked through a 
long avenue or park to the park and palace of St. 
Cloud, or rather to the place where the palace stood 
ere its destruction during the Franco-Prussian war. 
This park contains nearly a thousand acres and is 
beautifully laid out with broad drives, profusely 
adorned with statuary and a majestic fountain called 
the Grande Cascade, the main jet of which rises to a 
height of nearly one hundred and forty feet. St. 
Cloud was frequently the resort of Napoleon I, and 
was a favorite summer residence of Napoleon III. 

July 24- — Another day of idling and rest. 

July 25. — In the afternoon we made another visit 
to the Louvre. The collections of the Louvre are 
of various kinds, embracing paintings, drawings, en- 



201 

gravings, sculpture, ancient and modern, Assyrian, 
Egyptian and Greek antiquities, Algerine and sun- 
dry other museums, and a beautiful collection of 
enamels and jewels. To the visitor whose time is 
limited only general impressions are received and 
with the exception of a few artistic gems of world- 
wide note, he gains no definite or detailed knowledge 
of the thousands of subjects offered for his observa- 
tion. 

July 26. — Peter the Great, of Russia, is alleged to 
have once said that if he possessed such a town as 
Paris within his dominion he should be tempted to 
burn it down for fear it should absorb the rest of his 
empire. Every rural Frenchman ever has a longing 
eye and a hopeful heart for the day when he can live 
in Paris.. 

Balzac has said of it, "Paris is a veritable ocean. 
Drop in your sounding line and you will never learn 
its depth. Traverse it, describe it if you will, yet 
with whatever care you traverse or describe it, and 
however numerous and eager may be explorers of 
this ocean, there will always be found one spot still 
virgin and unknown, flowers, pearls, monsters or 
something unheard of or forgotten by literary divers." 

Paris is a living exhibit of the world's different 
countries, their architecture, streets, peoples and 
customs. The clannishness of the human race has 
led to the gathering in various distinct quarters of the 
representatives of almost every language and coun- 
try. To a foreigner, especially to one who has never 
left his country before, an hour spent on the boule- 
vards or on one of the chairs in the Garden of the 
Tuilleries would lead to the conclusion that the primal 



202 

object of French men and women of every class is to 
make life as easy and pleasant as possible ; to live for 
the present, ignore or forget the past and take hair- 
breadth chances on escaping future penalties. In fact, 
pleasure in Paris becomes a business that is prosecuted 
with all the zeal and persistency of which the mer- 
curial French temperament is capable. 

July 27. — Wandering with a purposeless step 
around the streets, Paris impresses me as a city of 
striking contrasts. There is modern Paris, with its 
nineteenth century imposing architecture and its 
fashionable multitudes passing down the broad 
luxurious Rue de Rivoli, all gaiety and radiance. 
A few steps and the busy lengths of the Rue S. Honore 
are before you, lined by the tall, many- windowed 
houses that have been the breeding places of so many 
revolutions. Innumerable balconies, domes, win- 
dows and little niches are filled with boxes of carna- 
tions and other brilliant flowers, while the whirling 
and kaleidoscopic crowd in the street below is com- 
posed mostly of workingmen in blouses and women 
in white aprons and caps. For five hundred years 
this has been one of the most crowded streets of Paris. 
The gate defending this street was assaulted by the 
legions of Joan of Arc more than five centuries ago; 
here the shot that opened the revolution of 1830 was 
fired, and here were witnessed some of the most des- 
perate struggles between the insurgents and the 
militia in the revolution of 1848. 

July 28 and 29. — Were spent in resting and per- 
forming a few necessary errands preparatory to leaving 
for London. 



203 

July SO. — Left Paris for London this morning, via 
Dieppe, passing through Rouen and sundry small 
towns. The country is green and fresh from recent 
heavy showers, though much grain in the fields is 
badly lodged and that in the shock thoroughly 
soaked. The general appearance and topography of 
the country differed little from that of a railroad trip 
through Ohio or Indiana, except that you see no fields 
of Indian corn. Arriving at Dieppe we boarded the 
steamer for crossing the English channel. A light 
breeze at our departure soon ripened into a stiff gale, 
and before an hour had passed many a good lunch 
had gone to feed the fishes, though I had the good luck 
to keep a strangle hold on mine. We reached New 
Haven, on the English coast, shortly before 6 o'clock, 
and after an hour spent in waiting for the customs 
officers to vise all the baggage, the train departed 
for London, passing through a country green and 
beautiful, but with very much lighter crops of grain 
than greeted the eye in France. The dairy industry 
however seemed to "cut more ice" than on the other 
side of the channel. The residences in the towns 
along the route were of a generally uniform size and 
ugliness. There was no symptom of architectural 
variety or taste. We reached London at 8 o'clock, 
and drove to the Strand Palace Hotel only to find 
there was not a vacant room in the house, but found 
comfortable quarters at Haxell's Hotel, next door. 

July 31. — Rained all day and weather conducive 
to overcoats. Strolled up and down the Strand from 
Ludgate Circus to Trafalgar Square. At the latter 
place is a beautiful and imposing monument to Lord 
Nelson, nearly one hundred and fifty feet in height 



204 

and defended at each of the four corners by a massive 
bronze Hon modeled by Sir Edwin Landseer. Other 
portions of the square are adorned by less pretentious 
monuments of Sir Henry Havelock, Sir Charles 
Napier, Gen. ''Chinese" Gordon and King George IV. 
In the evening attended the Royal Opera by the Rus- 
sian ballet at Co vent Garden Theatre. The music 
was exquisite, the dancing very good — though 
I have seen better, and the scenic display above the 
average, but not to be compared to the wonderful 
staging of the Hippodrome in New York. Our hotel 
fronts on the Strand, at one of the busiest points in 
London. The street is filled with a busy throng of 
autos, cabs and omnibuses, but unlike Paris, they are 
not cutting corners at forty miles an hour, but con- 
form to the controlling hand of a level-headed and 
keen-eyed police, who seem to have been instructed 
that the life of a pedestrian is worthy of protection 
against the reckless dare-devilism of the average 
chauffeur. For six months we have been wandering 
in countries where the English language is practically 
an unknown tongue, and now it seems almost like 
home to land in a country where you can make your 
wants known and understood by any chance stranger 
you may meet on the street. 

August 1. — Wandered up and down the Strand; 
also took an outside view of Somerset House, crossed 
the Waterloo Bridge and wandered down to the bank 
of the Thames. This afternoon my dear old friend. 
General Burdett, of Washington city, arrived, looking 
as fresh and fine as a man of seventy-seven years 
could ever hope to look. His face is round and smooth 
and without a wrinkle, and God bless him, he looks 



205 

good for another decade of life and enjoyment among 
the remnant of the Old Guard of the Grand Army of 
the Republic, who love and revere him. 

August 2. — Spent the day visiting with Burdett. 

August 3. — In company with Burdett we visited 
the Victoria Monument in St. James place or park, 
a tract converted by Henry VIII from a hospital for 
lepers into a royal park, and which has been added to 
from time to time since, until it contains nearly one 
hundred acres, and is beautified with green lawns, 
variegated flowers, handsome trees and a small lake 
or pond. The monument stands immediately in 
front of Buckingham Palace, is of white marble, and 
occupies the centre of a circular space within which 
are allegorical groups representing the various British 
colonies. At the base of the pedestal of the monu- 
ment is a heroic statue of Queen Victoria, surrounded 
by sundry allegorical groups, while the top is crowned 
by a bronze figure of Victory. From the monument 
we drove to the Parliament House, and as that body 
was not in session, were permitted to pass through 
both the chambers of the Lords and Commons, the 
King's robing room, the Royal gallery, the Princes' 
chamber, St. Stephen's Hall and Westminister Hall. 
In the latter is shown the spot where Charles I stood 
when he received sentence of death, and here Crom- 
well was proclaimed as Lord Protector, only to have 
his body a few years later disinterred from West- 
minster Abbey and his head set upon a pole on one 
of the pinnacles of Westminster Hall. Here, also, 
William Wallace, the hero of that ancient novel, 
"The Scottish Chiefs," was condemned to death, and 



206 

the conspirator, Guy Fawkes, of Gunpowder Plot 
fame, met his fate. It was also the scene of the 
acquittal of Warren Hastings after his famous seven 
years trial. We next proceeded to Westminster 
Abbey, the Mausoleum of England's men of great 
renown. 

August 4' — Went with Burdett to Victoria station 
and saw him leave for Eastbourne, preparatory to 
returning to America. In the afternoon, in company 
with a gentleman from New York, we visited the 
National gallery, and there found many pictures of 
world-wide fame by such artists as Rubens, Titian, 
Sir Joshua Reynolds, Rosa Bonheur, Murello, Millais, 
Gainsborough and others. Later I strolled down to 
old London bridge, whose history has been an impor- 
tant part of London's life almost since the days of the 
Norman conquest. In fact, a wooden bridge existed 
on this site in the days of the Saxon Heptarchy, and 
even that is supposed to have been preceded by one 
under the later Roman rule. But the famous stone 
bridge was begun about one hundred years after 
William the Conqueror humbled Saxon power and 
pride at the battle of Hastings, and occupied some 
thirty odd years in construction. It was built upon 
nineteen stone arches and was described by a distin- 
guished traveler about four hundred years ago, who 
wrote: "Over the river at London there is a beautiful 
long bridge, with quite splendid, handsome and well 
built houses which are occupied by merchants of 
consequence. Upon one of the towers, nearly in the 
middle of the bridge are stuck up about thirty-four 
heads of persons of distinction, who had in former 
times been condemned and beheaded for creating 



207 

riots and for other causes." About one hundred and 
fifty years ago the houses on the bridge were all 
cleared away, partly to relieve the great weight and 
partly to give greater space for the passage of the 
largely increased traffic. 

August 5 and 6. — Showers of rain every few minutes. 
Visited the Tate gallery, containing many beautiful 
modern paintings by Reynolds, Gainsborough, Land- 
seer and numerous other artists of the nineteenth 
century. 

Opposite our hotel is a saloon called "The Coal 
Hole," wherein the liquors are served by the typical 
English bar-maid, of whom so much has been written. 
Apparently it is a first class, respectable place, so far 
as respectability can attach to such a business, which 
however is not so much under the ban as it is in 
America. It is also apparent that almost everybody 
here and on the continent patronizes the hquor sellers 
as openly and as matter of fact as they would a lunch 
counter, and in a majority of instances the hquor 
constitutes a portion of their meal. Seldom do you 
see men, as in America, rush up to the bar, call for a 
drink, gulp it down at a swallow and go their way, 
but on the contrary a man will sit down, often with 
his wife or some other man's wife, and spend half or 
three-quarters of an hour sipping a glass of wine or 
beer, accompanied by a cake or sandwich. 

August 7. — Went to see the monument erected in 
commemoration of the great London fire of 1666, 
which is a single column rising to a height of more 
than two hundred feet. There being no "hft," I 
declined to climb its staircase of some three or four 



208 

hundred steps, for the sake of the view. Leaving 
the monument I walked to St. Paul's Church. 
Although of vast proportions it induces no such feel- 
ing of commanding awe and admiration as St. Peter's, 
the Cathedral of Milan, or even that at Cologne. 
The main body of the church as you enter shows only 
plain stone walls, discolored and soiled by the hands 
of Time, with the liberal assistance of London smoke 
and fog. Toward the farther end, however, above 
and surrounding the altar, within the last few years 
steps have been taken toward carrying out a system 
of interior decoration in which gilding, rich mosaics, 
stained glass and polished marble are prominent 
factors, and which, if continued uniformly throughout, 
will add greatly to the beauty and attractiveness of 
the edifice. Throughout the auditorium are many 
marble statues commemorating the lives and deeds 
of England's noted military and naval heroes, though 
none of them are of a very high order of artistic merit. 
Taken altogether, the Cathedral bears no comparison 
in beauty of architecture or interior adornment to 
many of the churches, mosques and cathedrals we 
have hitherto seen on the continent. 

August 8. — Rain, rain and more rain. Visited the 
Albert Memorial, erected at a cost of six hundred 
thousand dollars, to the memory of Prince Albert, 
consort of Queen Victoria. It is located in the south- 
erly part of Kensington Garden, and is 175 feet in 
height. The base is a broad platform approached by 
granite steps. The four corners of the approach are 
ornamented by allegorical groups in white marble 
representing the four continents upon which England 
holds territorial possessions. The lower portion 



209 

of the pedestal is square in form, bearing at the cor- 
ners marble groups representing respectively agri- 
culture, manufactures, commerce and engineering. 
A frieze in relief surrounds each side of the pedestal, 
representing more than one hundred and seventy- 
five men of all the ages, famous as painters, poets, 
musicians, architects and sculptors. On top of the 
pedestal sits a colossal bronze statue of Prince Albert 
under a gothic canopy — the statue gilded. The 
canopy is surrounded by a gilt cross and underneath 
is richly ornamented with mosaics, gilt and colored 
stones. 

Kensington Garden, in which the memorial stands, 
is nothing more nor less than a wooded park adjoin- 
ing and forming an extension to Hyde Park. Passing 
through the garden, viewing on our right a pond 
called the Serpentine, which divides Kensington 
from Hyde Park, and where the poet Shelley's first 
wife committed suicide by drowning, we soon reached 
Kensington Palace, a non-imposing brick edifice, but 
historically noted as the place where William III and 
his Queen Mary died, and where Queen Victoria was 
born and resided until the time of her coronation. 
A few only of the rooms are open to public inspection, 
and these contain a number of the playthings, dresses, 
etc., belonging to Queen Victoria in her earlier years, 
as well as many paintings of England's rulers and states- 
men and heroes of noted naval engagements. Retrac- 
ing our steps through Kensington Garden, Ken- 
sington Gore and Exhibition Road, we came to South 
Kensington Museum, which is a most imposing build- 
ing of gigantic proportions, being some seven hundred 
feet in length. Within its walls is perhaps the most 
complete, historic and chronologic exhibit of deco- 



210 

rative and applied art in the world. Room after room, 
and corridor after corridor, are filled with unending 
specimens of Italian, French, English, Spanish, 
Flemish, and German sculpture in marble, alabaster, 
stone, glazed terra-cotta and wood, running through 
the centuries, mediaeval and modern wood-work, 
furniture, plaques, panels and cabinets. Like rooms 
and corridors are devoted to cloths and tapestries 
dating from those found in the early Egyptian tombs 
down to the present time. Still other rooms are filled 
with plaster or other reproductions of the world's 
most famous architectural achievements as shown in 
temples, churches, palaces and other public and pri- 
vate buildings. Also to be seen is a multitudinous 
collection of goldsmith and silversmith work and 
ancient enamels, together with specimens of brass 
work, bronzes, clocks, spoons and pewter work. 
There is also a loan collection belonging to Pierpont 
Morgan of bronzes, old jewelry, porcelain, ivory- 
carvings, etc., and which is now being packed up for 
shipment to America. 

August 9. — Showers at intervals all day. Mounted 
a two story omnibus, and after a long ride through 
South London, landed at the south end of Tower 
Bridge, a magnificent triumph of engineering skill, 
one-half mile long and costing the munificent sum 
of eight million dollars. Crossing the bridge on foot 
we visited the Tower of London, a building fraught 
with more of England's eventful history, and the 
scene of more misery, more hopeless despair, devilish 
cruelty and wanton murders than any other spot on 
English soil. Here the mahgnity and jealousy of that 
much married monarchy Henry VIII; held full sway 



211 

and the axe of his official executioner ended the 
earthly career of Sir Thomas Moore, Anne Boleyn, 
Queen Catharine Howard, the Earl of Essex, and the 
Countess of Salisbury. Here at an earlier period 
were confined John Baliol and David Bruce, kings of 
Scotland, as well as that sturdy and unselfish Scotch 
patriot, Sir William Wallace. But even an allusion 
to all the noted happenings in the tower would make 
a good sized volume. The tower itself is an irregular 
mass of buildings representing many changes and 
additions, from the time of William the Conqueror to 
Henry III. Its massive stone walls are thirteen feet 
in thickness and were once surrounded by a deep 
moat. For many years it was occupied as a royal 
palace, but not since the time of Charles II. It is 
now used as a government arsenal and fortress, and in 
the courtyard we witnessed an interesting drill of the 
garrison troops. In that portion of the building 
called the Wakefield Tower, in a glass case surrounded 
by steel frame-work are the crowns and royal regalia 
and ornaments. The crown originally made for 
Queen Victoria and altered for Edward VII is made 
of gold and contains nearly three thousand diamonds, 
besides three hundred pearls and other precious 
stones. The famous Cullinane diamond, which was 
presented to King Edward by the government of 
Transvaal, has been cut into two stones, and they are 
here exhibited under the name of the Stars of Africa. 
There are several other crowns of gold and precious 
stones, besides sceptres, staffs, bracelets, basins, etc. 
all of solid gold. The total value represented in the 
exhibit we were told by the guardian exceeds thirty- 
five million dollars. 



212 

August iO.— Showery again at intervals all day. 
Visited the National Portrait Gallery. Here in some 
thirty odd rooms are assembled the portraits of more 
than sixteen hundred eminent Britons, carrying 
national and many of them world-wide reputations 
for military, naval, scientific and literary achieve- 
ments. The portraits are arranged in chronological 
order, beginning about the year 1350, and covering the 
period from the reign of Richard II down to and 
including the Victorian era. Of England's poets 
the earliest portrait is that of Geoffrey Chaucer, 
followed by the Chandos portrait of the immortal 
Bard of Avon. Then come Milton, Pope, and Dryden, 
and in their turn all that splendid galaxy of the 
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries whose names are 
household words among cultivated Americans. Rare 
old Ben Jonson, and England's great cynic philos- 
opher, Samuel Johnson, together with the satirical 
and of times "naughty" Dean Swift; the profound 
philosopher and corrupt statesman, Lord Bacon; the 
most fascinating essayist, the most picturesque por- 
trayer of human motives and action, though not the 
most reliable in his deductions and conclusions, T. 
Babington McCaulay and that trinity of modern 
philosophic scientists, Darwin, Huxley and John 
Stuart Mill, are all here. The only Americans who 
have been dignified and honored with a place on these 
walls are George Washington, painted by Gilbert 
Stuart, and Benjamin Franklin. 

August 11. — Ascended to the second story of a 
Strand omnibus, and after threading the tortuous 
streets of London and the approaches thereto for 
nearly two hours, we reached Hampton Court, the 



213 

largest of all the English palaces, built nearly four 
hundred years ago by Cardinal Wolsey and by him 
presented to Henry VIII. It is surrounded by 
extensive grounds, adorned with the most beautiful 
and elaborate beds of flowers, and shaded with tower- 
ing oaks, horse chestnuts and sundry other varieties 
of trees whose accumulation of years, unlike those of 
man, have added to their strength, beauty and fas- 
cination. Under a glass canopy near the palace is a 
patriarchal grape vine of the black Hamburg variety, 
nearly one hundred and fifty years old, with a stem 
thirteen inches in diameter and with thirteen hundred 
bunches of dehcious looking grapes pendant from 
its branches. The palace, which is built of red brick 
and like nearly all English architecture, severely 
plain in outward appearance, contains one thousand 
rooms, eight hundred of which are now occupied by 
aristocratic pensioners of the crown. The remaining 
rooms, or at least that portion of them now open to 
the public, are filled with a few acres of paintings, most 
of which are mediocre and uninteresting in character 
compared with those we have seen elsewhere. Here 
Henry VIII spent much of his time with his assort- 
ment of wives. Anne Boleyn presided over his house- 
hold at frequent banquetings, and here Jane Seymour 
died after giving birth to Edward VI, and in quick 
succession Catharine Howard and Catherine Parr 
were publicly acknowledged as Queens of England, 
and here also in succession resided King Edward VI, 
Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, James I and Charles I. 
After a heavy shower of rain had ceased we wended 
our way to the boat landing on the Thames for a trip 
back to London on the river. The first half of the 
ride was delightful. Immediately after leaving the 



214 

landing our steamer passed a long row of house-boats 
occupied as summer residences by those seeking out- 
door sports. Many of these boats are most elabo- 
rately furnished and the upper decks surrounded with 
a wealth of most beautiful flowering plants in boxes 
and pots. The river was thickly dotted with small 
row boats, gasoline launches, etc., filled with young 
people and old; lovers and past lovers who seemed, in 
spite of the falling temperature and cold wind, to 
enjoy summer dresses and shirt sleeves. For several 
miles both sides of the river are made attractive with 
summer homes, green sward and abundant flowers 
and trees, and their owners or occupants are appar- 
ently determined to have a good time in spite of the 
weather, picnicking, boating and fishing. Kingston, 
an old Saxon town, is soon reached, where some of the 
earlier kings of England were crowned. Then comes 
Tedington, where we passed through a lock and soon 
reached Twickenham, the residence and burial place 
of Pope and only a short distance from Strawberry 
Hill, the one-time home of Horace Walpole. Opposite 
Twickenham is Petersham, where the grave of Cap- 
tain Vancouver, the Pacific coast navigator, is located. 
Continuing down the river we reached Isleworth, a 
favorite residence of London business men, where 
many fine residences and wooded grounds add beauty 
to the scene. Here also is another lock through 
which we dropped to the lower reach of the river. 
Then comes Kew, with its noted Botanical Gardens, 
followed by Chiswick, Hammersmith, Putney and 
Fulham, and finally Westminster, where we landed 
and returned by omnibus to our hotel. 



215 

August 12. — Thunder showers still on the regular 
bill of fare. In the afternoon visited the National 
History Museum, which is a branch of the British 
Museum. It is contained in a handsome and enor- 
mous stone building and offers a most complete 
exhibit of the world's animals, birds, reptiles, insects 
and fishes, including many specimens of extinct and 
pre-historic species. Exhibits are given of the family 
groups of many animals and birds, showing the vari- 
ations of their coats at different seasons and their 
color adaptability to their immediate surroundings. 
Many butterflies and other insects possess this faculty 
in marked degree, and although when in flight they 
are conspicuous for their brilliant coloring, as soon as 
they alight and fold their wings they become in color 
and appearance a part of the tree or plant upon which 
they are resting. Exhibits are presented also of the 
variation of species, the effect of cross-breeding, 
albinism, etc., in animals. There is also a large and 
complete mineralogical and botanical exhibit. 

August 13 and 11^. — Overcoats, umbrellas and 
galoshes in constant requisition. Visited Kew, where 
are located the extensive and beautiful botanic garden 
and arboretum. The grounds contain about two 
hundred and fifty acres, and outside of the greenhouses 
are embellished with specimens of almost every 
variety of tree and bush that will stand the winter 
temperature of England. Many of the trees, espe- 
cially oaks, sycamores and horse chestnuts, are of 
great size. Within the numerous greenhouses are 
to be found an infinity of trees, plants and flowers 
from the tropical and subtropical regions, among 
which are lace-hke ferns, curiously shaped and gor- 



216 

geously colored orchids, water lilies of every known 
variety, including the famed Victoria Regia, with its 
circular leaves six feet in diameter, and which was 
almost ready to unfold its beautiful blossom. The 
Egyptian lotus was also in evidence in full bloom, as 
were many varieties of pitcher plants. Sir Joseph 
Hooker, the eminent English botanist, was for many 
years preceding his recent death the director of the 
gardens. In 1877 he visited Rancho Chico, and after 
pronouncing an oak tree growing there to be, so far as 
he knew, the largest oak in the world, General Bid- 
well named the tree the "Sir Joseph Hooker Oak." 

Augiist 15 and 16. — Housed up on account of the 
continuous rain. 

August 17. — Left London for a visit to Stratford on 
Avon, distant some ninety miles. Passed through 
several towns of more or less importance, including 
Oxford, Banbury, Leamington and Warwick. Ar- 
riving at Stratford we secured the services of a small 
boy who offered himself as guide, and proceeded first 
to Shakespeare's house, where upon the payment of a 
shilling per head we were permitted to wander through 
the half dozen rooms and inspect many old relics in 
the line of furniture, deeds and miscellaneous articles, 
few of which held any personal relation to Shake- 
speare or his life career. There were many supposi- 
tions and beliefs expressed to the more or less 
credulous tourist as to the authenticity of the numer- 
ous relics on exhibition, but even the curator of the 
museum was not willing to risk a positive guarantee 
concerning the majority of them. The house is a 
fair sample of the residence of a family of modest 



217 

means of that period, with a total lack of what in 
these days would be considered necessary conven- 
iences by the humblest day laboring tenant. Leaving 
the house we visited what is known as the "new- 
place," purchased by Shakespeare in later life and 
where he died. The house has long since disappeared, 
but an inscribed tablet in the yard indicates the sup- 
posed location of the room in which he died. Walk- 
ing from here to the church where he is buried, 
another six pence admits you to the interior. On the 
way to the church we passed the residence of Marie 
Corelli, the novelist, the front of which is beautifully 
adorned with flowering plants and English ivy. We 
also passed the house wherein once lived the mother 
of John Harvard, founder of Harvard University. 
After partaking of luncheon we called a carriage and 
drove to Anne Hathaway's cottage, about a mile and 
a half distant. It is a thatched farm house of the 
EUzabethan period and contains among other relics 
the bench upon which it is alleged young Shakespeare 
and older Anne sat during their evening courtship. 
Anne's bedstead, with heavy walnut posts and a 
fairly well preserved plaited straw mattress, are also 
shown. The home in its interior finishings shows all 
the earmarks of the age in which it was erected, and 
the thatched roof, more than a foot thick, is covered 
in many places with a volunteer growth of grass, 
weeds and wild flowers. It is claimed that more 
than thirty thousand visitors arrive every year, and 
the town lives mainly upon their disbursements. 
The river Avon, which courses along one side of 
Stratford, is a fine flowing stream, and many row 
boats are for hire for a ride up and down its stretches. 
The country between London and Stratford is slightly 



218 

rolling, is under a high state of cultivation, and owing 
to the over-abundant rains that have prevailed every 
day so far during the month of August, the meadows 
and trees are beautiful in their luxuriant coats of 
green. The rains and low temperature however have 
occurred at a time when haying and harvesting were 
in full progress, and have caused vast losses in crops 
to the farmers all over England and Scotland, as well 
as on the continent. 

August 18. — Jupiter Pluvius still reigns and 
showers his blessings upon the just and the unjust 
alike. Took an omnibus and rode down to Petticoat 
Lane, where every Sunday morning is held an open 
air auction market. The narrow street is densely 
crowded with people, some coming out of curiosity 
and some looking for bargains at the innumerable 
small merchant stands, where every conceivable 
article of cheap and second hand goods is offered for 
sale, mostly at auction. A large proportion of these 
goods are popularly supposed to have been stolen. 
Leaving Petticoat Lane we rode to Hyde Park and 
Park Lane, viewed the aristocratic mansion of the 
American minister, the imposing stone palace of the 
late Barney Barnato, of South African diamond 
fame, and sundry other millionaire residences, crossed 
over into the park where a crowd were listening to the 
female orators of a suffragette meeting, one of whom, 
a very pleasing and cultivated looking lady proved 
to be a Mrs. Dr Moore, of San Francisco, who sought 
to impress her audience with the great moral revolu- 
tion that had been brought about in California 
through the successful domination of that most 
tyrannical and unscrupulous boss of all political 



219 

bosses, Gov. Hiram Johnson. After the close of the 
meeting went to the Tate gallery for a second visit. 

August 19 and 20. — Busy with preparations for 
departure homeward. 

August 21. — Left the hotel for Waterloo station, 
where we boarded the special steamer train for South- 
ampton and the steamer Oceanic of the White Star 
line for New York. The country from London to 
Southampton is very similar in appearance to other 
parts of England that we have seen, slightly roUing 
and all under high state of cultivation. The con- 
tinued rains for the last three weeks, while making the 
grass and trees beautifully green, have caused enor- 
mous loss to the farmers, who were in the midst of 
their harvesting. Wheat, barley and oats are stand- 
ing in the shock, much of it black and rotten and in 
many cases sprouting. The hay crop is absolutely 
ruined, much of it having been cut and lying in the 
swath. 

August 21 to 28. — Spent in crossing the Atlantic 
without incident of special interest, and after landing 
in New York on the latter date we took the train for 
Washington city, reaching there at midnight. Here 
endeth the journal. 



